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Torreya nucifera
Also called Japanese Nutmeg-yew, Japanese Nutmeg Tree, Japanese Nutmeg, Nut Bearing Torreya
Japanese torreya is a slow-growing evergreen conifer tree native to southern Japan and Jeju Island, grown mainly for its edible seeds and prized timber. It is a large tree and is rarely grown in gardens, where it needs cool, humid conditions and a sheltered site.
Torreya nucifera is a slow-growing, coniferous tree native to southern Japan and to South Korea's Jeju Island. It is also called kaya (榧) Japanese torreya or Japanese nutmeg-yew.
Its wood is prized for the construction of Go boards and Shogi boards because of its beautiful yellow-gold color, fine and uniform ring texture, and the sonic quality of the click of a stone on its surface. The tree is protected in Japan because of its scarcity due to past overcutting. Ancient kaya trees have to be harvested to make thick Go boards, which makes them extremely expensive; the finest ones can cost over $20,000. Shin-kaya ("new kaya" in Japanese), imitation kaya, is usually Alaskan, Tibetan or Siberian white spruce, which has become somewhat popular for cheaper equipment due to the scarcity of kaya trees. Go bowls can also be made of kaya, though this is less common.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Torreya nucifera 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.
