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Scientific name: Cryptomeria japonica (Thunb. ex. L.) D.Don 1841
Synonyms: Cryptomeria araucarioides Henkel & W.Hochst., Cryptomeria compacta Beissn., Cryptomeria elegans Jacob-Makoy, Cryptomeria fortunei Hooibr. ex. Billain, Cryptomeria generalis E.H.L.Krause, Cryptomeria japonica subsp. sinensis (Miq.) P.D.Sell, Cryptomeria japonica var. caespitosa Makino, Cryptomeria japonica var. compacta (Beissn.) C.K.Schneid., Cryptomeria japonica var. dacrydioides Carrière, Cryptomeria japonica var. fortunei (Hooibr. ex. Billain) A.Henry, Cryptomeria japonica var. japonica, Cryptomeria japonica var. lobbii (Billain) Carrière, Cryptomeria japonica var. lobbii Lavallée, Cryptomeria japonica var. nana Carrière, Cryptomeria japonica var. pendula Leroy ex. Dallim. & A.B.Jacks., Cryptomeria japonica var. pungens Carrière, Cryptomeria japonica var. radicans Nakai, Cryptomeria japonica var. sinensis Miq., Cryptomeria japonica var. spiralis Miq., Cryptomeria kawaii Hayata, Cryptomeria lobbiana Billain, Cryptomeria lobbii (Carrière) Lavallée, Cryptomeria mairei (H.Lév.) Nakai, Cryptomeria mucronata Beissn., Cryptomeria nana Lindl. & Gordon, Cryptomeria nigricans Carrière, Cryptomeria pungens Beissn., Cryptomeria variegata Beissn., Cryptomeria viridis Beissn., Cupressus japonica Thunb. ex. L., Cupressus mairei H.Lév., Schubertia japonica (Thunb. ex. L.) Jacques, Schubertia japonicum (Thunb. ex. L.) Brongn., Taxodium japonicum (Thunb. ex. L.) Brongn.
Common names: Japanese cedar, Japanese red cedar, Sugi (English), Sugi (Japanese), Liu Shan (Chinese)
Trees to 50-60 m tall, evergreen, monoecious, trunk straight, columnar, usually monopodial, in old trees massive, buttressed, 4-5 m (formerly to 8 m) diam. Bark on large trees 2-3 cm thick, reddish brown, weathering grey, exfoliating in long, shredding strips. Branches spreading to assurgent, forming a conical crown in young trees and a rounded crown in mature trees, self-pruning to leave a clear bole in large trees. Foliage branches dense, shedding not individual leaves but ultimate lateral branches which persist 4-8 years. Leaves helically arranged in ranks of 5, decurrent, free for 1/2-3/4 of length, spreading but incurved in various degrees, directed forward, linear-subulate, slightly flattened laterally, distinctly keeled abaxially, stiff, green, 3-20(-25) × 1-2 mm, margins entire, apex acute, amphistomatic, stomata in 4 greenish bands separated by green ribs, usually on entire length of leaf. Pollen cones numerous, axillary and crowded toward ends of 2nd-year branchlets, 3-6 × 2-3 mm, elongating to 10 mm at anthesis. Microsporophylls 15-30, the first 2 opposite and green, then helically arranged, imbricate, peltate, with 4-6 connate pollen sacs on the lower abaxial margin. Seed cones terminal on down-curved branchlets with normal leaves, often aggregated or solitary, occasionally with proliferating vegetative short shoot at apex, globose to subglobose, squarrose with spreading bract-scale complexes, soft woody, 12-20(-25) mm diam. Bract-scale complexes helically arranged on a very short axis, 25-40, connate but parting at maturity, cuneate-rhombic, narrowly based. Apex a curved, triangular, thin bract; teeth adaxial to the bract below the upper margin of the scale, (1-)3-5(-6) in number, acute to rostrate, (2-)2.5-5(-6) mm long. Seeds (1-)2-5 per bract-scale complex (some ovules may abort) depending on space available when intercalary scale tissue develops, 4-5 × 3 mm, flattened, irregularly ovate with 2 wings, wings unequal, 1-1.5 mm wide, forming a strip around the seed.
This species is found in Japan: Honshu, Shikoku and Yakushima. Within Japan, the natural distribution is discontinuous and scattered in limited areas as a result of the extensive exploitation of this species during the past 1,000 years. Yakushima is one of the few areas where natural forest still occurs and here there are many trees that are over 1,000 years old; 600-1,800 m.
Red List Category & Criteria: Near Threatened
Natural subpopulations are small and highly fragmented. Identifying and distinguishing between natural forests and plantations makes the calculation of an extent of occurrence (EOO) and area of occupancy (AOO) problematic. However, the AOO of the natural populations is likely to be within or close to the threshold for Vulnerable. A limited decline has been reported from some areas but the extent of the decline has not been quantified. An assessment of Near Threatened seems most appropriate until better information is available.
Natural forests that include this species are now very rare and those forests in which it still occurs have been greatly altered; the description is largely based on forests in Yakushima where an old growth forest still exists. The forest vegetation is mixed evergreen forest, with ca. 50% Cryptomeria, growing mixed or in groves; angiosperm evergreen trees are Trochodendron aralioides, Distylium racemosum, Camellia japonica, Camellia sasquana, Daphniphyllum spp., Michelia compressa, Myrica rubra, Quercus spp., Ilex spp., and Lauraceae; conifers are Abies firma, Tsuga sieboldii, Chamaecyparis obtusa, and Torreya nucifera; a few deciduous angiosperm trees, e.g. Stewartia monadelpha and Acer spp., make up less than 1% of tree cover. There is a diverse shrub-layer and some common climbers, e.g. Hydrangea petiolaris and Rhus orientalis; a rich cryptogamic flora covers the forest floor as well as trees, with abundant ferns, e.g. Hymenophyllum, mosses, and liverworts. The mountains on this island are of granite; the soils are well drained yellow loam or clay, often quite deep. The climate is mild temperate, with abundant rainfall.
Extensive logging has removed trees of this species in much of its natural range and few old growth forests with Cryptomeria remain. Plantation forestry in Japan has made extensive use of the species, bringing it back to many areas where it had been greatly depleted. The species is undoubtedly regenerating naturally from this stock in many forests, so that the distinction between its natural distribution and anthropogenic occurrences can only be ascertained by a detailed study of forest history in Japan that would distinguish between primary and secondary occurrence. Some plantations are established from clonal material or with material that is not of local provenance. The potential impacts on natural populations via genetic contamination are uncertain. Cryptomeria has also been identified as susceptible to changes in precipitation; recent declines in lowland forests have been attributed to climate change.
The timber of this species is regarded in Japan as being highly valuable for construction because of its size, workability, and durability. This species is the principal conifer in Japanese forestry (ca 44% of all plantations) and almost all timber now comes from plantations. It has been introduced to China many centuries ago; in Taiwan the Japanese established extensive plantations replacing natural forest. The wood is rather coarse grained, with reddish heartwood and light yellowish sapwood, and a typical coniferous fragrance due to volatile terpines. It is used in house construction, panelling, flooring, carpentry, joinery, and furniture making. The fibrous bark was traditionally used for roofs of houses but is now more often processed as a general fibre or composted. There are several hundred cultivars known of this species, in Japan and in Europe and North America, and the species as well as many of these cultivars is widely used in gardens and parks. Outside of its native habitat, Cryptomeria can be invasive and may readily regenerate from seed and by layering.
This species is partially protected on Yakushima where the largest subpopulation occurs. Some of the smaller subpopulations elsewhere are also protected, but logging is still permitted in others.
Cryptomeria japonica ’Alba Variegata’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Albospica’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Albovariegata’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Alfred Hupp’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Alpina’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Antique Gold’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Atlanta Bot Garden fastigiate form’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Araucarioides’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Archer’s Greenbush’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Archer’s Redbush’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Argenteospicata’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Argenteovariegata’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Aritaki’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Ashio-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Atawhai’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Athrotaxoides’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Aurea’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Aureovariegata’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Aurescens’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Aya-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Bandai HB’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Bandai-shira’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Bandai-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Bandai-Tongi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Barabits’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Barabits Compact’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Barabits Gold’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Beaumont Dwarf’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Beni-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Benjamin Franklin’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Bennie’s Best’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Birodo-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Birodo-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Black Dragon’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Bloomer’s WB’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Broom’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Buckiscope’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Caespitosa’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Cambridge’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Carmel’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Chabo-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Champagne’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Chapel View’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Chocolate’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Clark’s Mossy’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Compacta’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Compacta Nana’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Compacta Nana Glauca’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Compactoglobosa’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Compressa’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Congested’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Conica’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Crassifolia’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Cristata’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Cristata Falcata’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Cristata Tomszak’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Cristata Variegated’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Cupressa’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Dacrydioides’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Dai-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Decalut’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Dense Jade’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Determan's weeping form’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Dinger’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Douglasii’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Dutch Discovery’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Egmont’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Eizan-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Elegans’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Elegans Aurea’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Elegans Compacta’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Elegans Gracilis’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Elegans Nana’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Elegans Nana Variegated’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Elegans Plumosa’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Elegans Variegata’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Elegans Viridis’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Elegantissima’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Elongata’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Enko-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Ericoides’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Fasciata’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Fi-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Filifera’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Filip’s Winter Magic’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Fuiri-banda-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Garland’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Georgia Moon’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Gigantea’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Giokomo-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Giokumo’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Globosa’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Globosa Compacta Nana’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Globosa Nana’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Gold’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Gold Tip’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Golden Fascination’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Golden Promise’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Gorse’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Gracilis’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Granny’s Ringlets’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Green Grizzly’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Gruga Park’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Gyokruya’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Haggo’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Hao-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Hedges Midget’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Hime-ikari-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Hime-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Hino-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Hoo-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Howo-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Hungarian Gold’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Husari-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Ikan-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Ikari’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Ikari-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Ito-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Jakob’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Jindai-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Jinday Liam’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Jindai Top Gold’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Jolly Green Dwarf’ Cryptomeria japonica ’June’s wp Long’ Cryptomeria japonica ’June’s wp Short’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Juvenile’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Kamasan’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Karl Fuchs’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Keidel’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Kelly’s Fastigiate’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Kewensis’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Kilmacurragh’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Kitayama-dai’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Kitayama-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Knaptonensis’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Kohuo’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Kokuryu’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Komodo Dragon’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Konijn Yatsubusa’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Koshiji’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Koshiji-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Koshyi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Kowby’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Koyo-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Kuro-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Kusari-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Kyoto-ito-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Lemonade’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Liam O.’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Little Champion’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Little Diamond’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Little Globe’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Little Gnome’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Little Sonja’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Little Yoko’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Littleworth Dwarf’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Littleworth Gem’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Littleworth Gnom’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Lobbii’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Lobbii Compacta’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Lobbii Nana’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Lycopodiiformis’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Lycopodioides’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Lynn’s Ringlets’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Macrocarpa’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Macrocephala’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Majiro-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Manhish(m)i-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Mankichi-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Mankitiana’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Marj’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Meyero-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Midare’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Midori’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Mignone’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Mitama-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Miyazima’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Monstrosa’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Monstrosa Compacta’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Monstrosa Nana’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Mucronata’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Mure-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Mushroom’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Nana’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Nana Albospica’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Nana Albospicata’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Nankin-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Negire-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Nigata’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Nigricans’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Nochide’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Nyewoods Form’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Ogon-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Okina-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Osaka-tama-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Pendula’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Pendulata’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Pevé Ten’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Phoenix’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Pickard’s Gold’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Pipo’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Plumosa’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Pom Pom’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Pouakai’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Pungens’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Pungens Rubiginosa’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Pygmaea’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Pyramidalis’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Pyramidata’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Quarryhill form Yakushima Island’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Radicans’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Rasen’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Rasen-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Rasen Variegated’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Rein’s Dense Jade’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Rein’s Dense Jade WB’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Rezek WB’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Rosanne’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Rubiginosa’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Ryokogu coyokyu’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Ryoku’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Ryoku Gyoku’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Sandersii’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Satsomanka’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Scarabantia’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Sekka-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Sekkan’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Sekkan Dwarf’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Sekkan-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Sekkan-sugi WB’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Sekkwia-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Selaginoides’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Sennin-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Shima-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Shishi-gashira’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Spiralis’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Spiraliter Falcata’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Sungold’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Swedica’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Taisho-tama’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Tansu’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Tansu Sport’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Tara’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Tarheel Blue’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Tashi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Tatejama’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Tenuifolia’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Tenzan’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Tenzan Yatsubusa’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Tenzan-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Tilford Cream’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Tilford Gold’ Cryptomeria japonica ’To-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Toda’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Tokonui’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Topgold’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Torta’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Tsatsumi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Twinkle Toes’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Typica’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Uncinata’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Unryu’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Variegata’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Vera’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Villa Krügel’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Vilmorin Gold’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Vilmorin Variegated’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Vilmoriniana’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Viminalis’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Virgata’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Viridis’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Vitellina’ Cryptomeria japonica ’VW Bug’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Winter Bronze’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Wogon’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Wogon-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Wood’s Dwarf’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Yaku-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Yamamoto’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Yatsubusa-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Yatsubusa Michinoku’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Yawara-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Yellow Top’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Yellow Twigg’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Yenko-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Yessica’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Yeuko-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Yokohama’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Yore-sugi’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Yoshino’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Yuantouliusha’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Zindai’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Zwerg Form’ Cryptomeria japonica ’Zwierowicz’
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