Tree growing to 30 m or so tall. Bark orange-red, scaly, especially higher up. Buds shiny brown, about 1 cm long. Young shoots greenish grey. Leaves in 2's, slender, bright green, 8-11 cm long, the persistent sheaths about 1.5 cm long. Cones conical, 3-6 cm long, yellow-brown, deciduous with thin scales. Seeds 6-7 mm long with a wing 1-2 cm long.
Mature trees extremely rare in Australia but available in nurseries and often used for bonsai.
NE China, Korea, Japan. Grows naturally in extensive forests from sea level to 2300 m in Japan.
Similar to P. sylvestris with reddish bark on upper trunk, but with greenish grey young shoots and longer, slender, green, not waxy blue, leaves; cones with thin flat-tipped scales.
NSW: Batlow (Pilot Hill Arboretum). VIC: Werribee (Werribbee Park Estate).
Source: (1995). Pinaceae. 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.
Pinus densiflora 'Alice Verkade'
Multiple-stemmed dwarf. Originated and introduced by Verkade Nsy, Wayne, New Jersey c. 1979.
Foliage with patches of gold. Old nineteenth century Japanese cultivar.
Dwarf, compact, roundish. Old nineteenth century Japanese cultivar.
Pinus densiflora 'Oculus-draconis'
Leaves form alternate green and yellow rings when viewed from above. Old Japanese cultivar.
Branches pendulous. Old Japanese cultivar.
Pinus densiflora 'Umbraculifera'
('Tonyosho' is probably identical to this). Small tree forming a flattened umbrella-like crown. Old nineteenth century Japanese cultivar.