A conical tree to 30 m or so tall in nature but rarely large in cultivation, grown mostly for the dwarf, plumose and bizarre foliage variants that are found among the cultivars, many of which retain the long juvenile leaves and a bluish colouration. Bark red-brown, peeling in long strips. Leaves with spreading, spiny tips and indistinct white markings below. Male cones about 1-2 mm long, abundant, terminal on branchlets, dark purplish black, Oct-Nov. Female cones more or less spherical, waxy blue-green becoming dark brown, 5-7 mm wide, Nov; scales 8-10, each with a small point. Seeds 1 or 2 per scale, warty, with large wings.
C & S Japan.
Timber with an attractive white grain, used commercially but not so popular as other species of the genus.
Long-pointed leaves in pairs of similar length and with irregular white markings below; small cones. Extremely variable with numerous cultivars. Chamaecyparis formosensis Matsum., Formosan Cypress, is occasionally offered in specialist nurseries; it is similar to C. pisifera but with unpleasant-smelling dull, brown-tinged leaves and ellipsoid cones.
NSW: Mt Tomah Bot. Gds (Brunet Garden). VIC: Daylesford Bot. Gds (Wombat Hill).
FILIFERA GROUP - FOLIAGE THREAD-LIKE
NANA GROUP - SMALL, FLATTENED, GLOBOSE AND WITH ADULT FOLIAGE
PLUMOSA GROUP - FOLIAGE SEMI-JUVENILE (LEAVES SHORT AND HELD CLOSE TO STEM, FOLDED AT THE MIDRIB, FACIAL AND LATERAL PAIRS OFTEN DIFFERENT)
Plumosa Nana Aurea' Low and cushion-forming with leaves similar to 'Squarrosa' but golden yellow to the outside of the plant. Origin United Kingdom.
SQUARROSA GROUP - PERSISTENT JUVENILE FOLIAGE (LEAVES LONG, CURVED, FACIAL AND LATERAL PAIRS IDENTICAL)
LEPTOCLADA GROUP - VERY SHORT, PERSISTENT, WAXY BLUE JUVENILE LEAVES
Source: (1995). Cupressaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 1, Ferns, conifers & their allies. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Baby Blue'
('Boulevard Dwarf') a dwarf form of 'Boulevard' becoming straggly and inferior to a new selection called 'True Blue'. A sport of 'Boulevard from Andrews Nursery, Sydney, Australia.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Boulevard'
Quick-growing, conical, sprays sometimes slightly drooping, needles 5-6 mm long, pointed, curved inwards, pale blue. Sport of 'Squarrosa'. Presumed to be named after Boulevard Nursery, Newport, usa c. 1960.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Cloverlea'
Similar to 'Boulevard' but with yellow spotting on the foliage. This selection found in Australia as a yellow sport on 'Boulevard'.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Compacta Variegata'
Dwarf variant of 'Compacta' with sprays flecked yellow at the tips. Colour darkening in winter. Origin unknown.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Compacta'
Dwarf, globose to flattened, leaves deep green, scale-like. Origin unknown.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Curly Top'
Similar to 'Boulevard' but slower growing and more dense; foliage deep, bright blue and held in short, curly branchlets. Sport of 'Boulevard' introduced by Andrews Nsy, Sydney, Australia, c. 1985.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Filifera Aurea Nana'
Dwarf golden variants to only about 50 cm tall but eventually becoming like 'Filifera Aurea'. General name for a range of dwarf clones of 'Filifera Aurea'.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Filifera Aurea'
Conical, branches thin, whip-like, pendulous, leaves pointed, foliage golden yellow. Origin unknown.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Filifera Aureovariegata'
('Filifera Variegata') Medium sized bush with splashes of cream-variegated foliage. Originated in Germany c. 1891.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Filifera Nana'
Dwarf, bushy variant of 'Filifera' with dark green leaves. Tharandt Forestry Station, Germany in the 1880s.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Gold Spangle'
Conical sport of 'Filifera Aurea' with sprays short, sometimes threadlike and often pale yellow and contorted. Originating from Koster Bros Nsy, Boskoop c. 1900.. Introduced Mesman Nsy, Boskoop, Netherlands.
Foliage bright cream in spring and more adult than in 'Plumosa Compressa Aurea'. Sport of 'Plumosa Compressa Aurea' introduced by John Emery, New South Wales, Australia.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Nana Albovariegata'
Dwarf and white-variegated or occasionally with white sprays. Origin unknown. An illegitimate name if the Latinised form was published after 1 Jan 1959.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Nana Aureovariegata'
Dwarf, the foliage with golden coloration; occasionally patches revert to green. Early cultivar, origin unknown.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Nana Variegata'
Variegated version of 'Nana' similar to but much smaller, at first, than 'Compacta Variegata'. Origin unknown.
Dwarf, compact, globose or flattened, sprays fan-like, sometimes crisped, leaves green or blue-green.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Parslori'
Like 'Nana' (of Australia) but lower growing and with paler foliage. Name probably illegitimate as Latinised and published after 1959, a new name required. Possibly of Australian origin.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Plumosa Albopicta'
Slow-growing upright bush, leaves white-tipped. Origin Japan.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Plumosa Aurea Compacta'
Slow-growing, leaves mostly juvenile, distinctly golden yellow. Said to be a superfluous name for 'Plumosa Aurea Nana'. Origin unknown.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Plumosa Aurea Nana'
Dwarf, leaves like 'Squarrosa' but yellow and curled back. Origin Germany.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Plumosa Aurea'
Foliage golden yellow; variable; many selections have been made from this cultivar. Origin Japan.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Plumosa Compressa'
Forms a minute tight ball of grey-green tiny leaves although the colour is variable; the smallest of the c. pisifera miniatures. Raised from sporting branch of 'Squarrosa' by Koster Bros of Boskoop, Netherlands.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Plumosa Juniperoides'
Similar to 'Plumosa Compressa' but faster growing and with broader juvenile leaves that are flatter against the branchlets. Yellow in summer but reverting to pale green in the cooler months. Origin usa in 1960's and technically illegitimate as Latinised after 1 Jan 1959.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Plumosa Rogersii'
Conical shrub with golden 'Squarrosa'-like foliage. W.H. Rogers & Son, Red Lodge Nurseries, Eastleigh, UK, 1930.
Dwarf with compressed round habit and blue-green foliage that is white at the tips and 'Squarrosa'-like. Japan.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Squarrosa Argentea'
Dwarf with silver-grey foliage. Origin unknown.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Squarrosa Intermedia'
Small, slow-growing and compact, densely foliaged, leaves compacted on the branchlets and very small. Occasionally throws out long, open branchlets. Origin uk.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Squarrosa Sulphurea'
Dense, conical, smaller than 'Squarrosa'. Leaves yellow in spring and summer, greening in winter. Koster Bros, Boskoop, Netherlands.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Squarrosa'
Tree or shrub with dense foliage, leaves in opposite pairs or 4's, bases close to stem, spreading at the tip, soft, flattened, about 5-7 mm long, waxy blue on both surfaces. Introduced P. F. von Siebold to Belgium in 1843 and J. G. Veitch to UK in 1861.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Strathmore'
Roundish, slow-growing and widespreading with golden foliage in winter. Said to originate from a nursery in Victoria, Australia, but records unlocated.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Sungold'
Dense bush with tangled threadlike golden foliage. Seedling selection of 'Filfera Aurea' by W. Goddard, Floravista Nsy, Vancouver Is, BC, Canada.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'True Blue'
Foliage formng a dense, neat, round ball growing to c. 1 m wide in 10 years. Introduced c. 1990 by Andrews Nursery, New South Wales.
Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Tsukumo'
Dwarf clone of 'Minima' that forms a low cushion. Foliage sprays pale green, waxy blue below. Sometimes spelled 'Tsukuma' or 'Tsukumi'. Origin usa but possibly not distinct from a name listed in usa as 'Pygmy'.