Umbrella-pine, Japanese Umbrella-pine
 

Mature Size, Growth, Longevity

Average mature size of 20-30' tall and 15-20' wide, can grow 60-90' tall. Form is variable from spire-like to broadly pyramidal tree in youth; with age the branches become more pendulous and spreading and the whole habit loose. Slow growth rate, perhaps 6" a year.

Native Range

Restricted in a wild state to the Valley of the Kiso-gawa in central Hondo, and to Koya-san and its immediate neighborhood in east central Hondo; the best trees being found in steep, rocky, sheltered situations. Introduced 1861.

Flower and Fruit Details

Flowers are monoecious, female solitary, terminal and subtended by a small bract, male in 1" long racemes. Fruits in oblong-ovate cones, upright, 2-4" long, 1-2" wide, scales with broad reflexed margins, green at first, ripening to brown the second year, each scale bears 5-9 narrowly-winged seeds.

Leaf and Bark Features

Leaves dark green, glossy above. Two kinds: some small and scale-like scattered on the shoot, but crowded at its end and bearing in their axils a whorl of 20-30 linear flat leaves. The way the needles radiate around the stem creates an "umbrella" effect. Bark is thin, nearly smooth, orangish to reddish-brown, exfoliating in long strips. Quite handsome but essentially hidden by the foliage.

Culture and Care

Transplant balled/burlapped into acidic, moist soil. Careful siting is necessary - needs protection from wind, and late afternoon shade in hot areas. Not very prosperous in Zone 8 and colder. No serious disease or insect problems.

Suggested Uses

Use as an accent or specimen plant. Could be integrated into a foundation planting, rock garden or border.

Taxa and Plants of this Species at BCA