The Japanese cryptomeria or Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria Japonica ‘Lobbii‘) is native to Japan and Southern China. It is a conifer with horizontal slightly hanging branches. Spherical fruiting cones appear at the shoot ends. Reddish-brown bark exfoliates in strips. On the ‘Lobbii’ cultivar the foliage is borne on longer branchlets. Dirr (2009, pg 344) contends that the “true” ‘Lobbii’ is an upright pyramidal-columnar form with denser and less pendulous branching than the type species. Its needles are longer and deeper green and they may bronze in cold weather. The tree is 30 – 40’ tall. The foliage of the ‘Lobbii’ cultivar is borne on longer branchlets. Dirr (2009, pg 344) contends that the “true” ‘Lobbii’ is an upright pyramidal-columnar form with denser and less pendulous branching than the type species. Its needles are longer and deeper green and they may bronze in cold weather. The genus name comes from the Greek, krypto, meaning “to hide” and meris meaning “a part” in reference to the hidden flower parts.

Common name: Japanese Cryptomeria, Japanese Cedar

Species Origin: Japan

New Jersey Status: USDA Unreported

Habit: Tree is broadly conical in shape and 30 – 40’ tall.

Habitat: Zone 5 -6; forests

Trunk/Stem: Bark is orange brown, soft and thick peeling in vertical strips.

Leaves: Slender, 5/8” long, flattened at the base, taper-pointed at the tip; bright green, curved forward along the shoots.

Flowers: Monoecious. Male flowers yellow-brown in the leaf axils; female flower green and cluster at the shoot tips. In separate clusters on the same plant; blooming early spring.

Fruits and seeds: A rounded brown cone, ¾” wide. Cones ripen the second year.