The open plant encyclopedia
Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.
The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.
Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.
Chamaecyparis obtusa
Also called Hinoki False Cypress, Japanese Cypress, Japanese False Cypress
Hinoki cypress is a slow-growing, pyramidal evergreen conifer from Japan, grown for its timber and widely planted as an ornamental and bonsai tree. It needs cool, moist conditions and well-drained soil, and many cultivars are available.
Chamaecyparis obtusa (Japanese cypress, hinoki cypress or hinoki; Japanese: 檜 or 桧, hinoki) is a species of conifer in the cypress family, Cupressaceae native to central Japan in East Asia, and widely cultivated in the temperate northern hemisphere for its high-quality timber and ornamental qualities, with many cultivars commercially available.
It once existed outside Asia with a range that stretched to Germany during the Miocene. Hinoki grows primarily on the islands of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. The main massifs are formed in mountainous regions with a moderately humid climate, at altitudes from 300 to 1,500 meters above sea level.
It is also a popular ornamental tree in parks and gardens, both in Japan and elsewhere in temperate climates, including western Europe and parts of North America. A large number of cultivars have been selected for garden planting, including dwarf forms, forms with yellow leaves, and forms with congested foliage. It is also often grown as bonsai.
The lignans chamaecypanones A and B, obtulignolide, and isootobanone can be found in the heartwood of Chamaecyparis obtusa var. formosana. The biflavones sciadopitysin, ginkgetin, isoginkgetin, podocarpusflavone B, 7,7''-O-dimethylamentoflavone, bilobetin, podocarpusflavone A, 7-O-methylamentoflavone, amentoflavone, hinokinin and hinokiflavone have been confirmed in the leaves of the plant. Chamaecydin was first discovered in the seeds of C. obtusa. The essential oil of Chamaecyparis obtusa contains a wide range of chemical compounds, including but not limited to the following: sabinene, elemol, myrcene, limonene, terpinen-4-ol, eudesmols, α-terpinyl acetate, α-terpinolene, α-terpineol, 3-carene, α-pinene, γ-terpinene, camphene, bornyl acetate, 1-methyladamantane, cuminol, eucarvone, 2-cyclopenten-1-one, 3,4-dimethyl-, 1,3-dimethyl-1-cyclohexene, calamenene, τ-muurolol, borneol, α-cadinol, β-thujaplicin. Some of these compounds are fragrances or intermediates used in the fragrance industry. Thus, the C.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Chamaecyparis obtusa by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
