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Chamaecyparis obtusa
A 700-year-old hinoki tree at Daichi-ji temple in Gifu Prefecture, Japan
Conservation status
Near Threatened  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Gymnospermae
Division:	Pinophyta
Class:	Pinopsida
Order:	Cupressales
Family:	Cupressaceae
Genus:	Chamaecyparis
Species:	C. obtusa
Binomial name
Chamaecyparis obtusa (Siebold & Zucc.) Endl.
Subspecies
Chamaecyparis obtusa var. formosana

Chamaecyparis obtusa (Japanese cypress, hinoki cypress or hinoki; Japanese: 檜 or 桧, hinoki) is a species of cypress 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.

Description

It is a slow-growing tree which may reach 35 m (115 ft) tall with a trunk up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) in diameter. The bark is dark red-brown. The leaves are scale-like, 2–4 mm (0.079–0.157 in) long, blunt tipped (obtuse), green above, and green below with a white stomatal band at the base of each scale-leaf. The cones are globose, 8–12 mm (0.31–0.47 in) in diameter, with 8–12 scales arranged in opposite pairs.

Related species

The plant is widespread in Japan. The related Chamaecyparis pisifera (sawara cypress) can be readily distinguished in its having pointed tips to the leaves and smaller cones. A similar cypress found on Taiwan is treated by different botanists as either a variety of this species (as Chamaecyparis obtusa var. formosana) or as a separate species Chamaecyparis taiwanensis; it differs in having smaller cones (6–9 mm diameter) with smaller scales, and leaves with a more acute apex.

Timber

It is grown for its very high-quality timber in Japan, where it is used as a material for building palaces, temples, shrines, traditional noh theatres, baths, table tennis blades and masu. The wood is lemon-scented, light pinkish-brown, with a rich, straight grain, and is highly rot-resistant. For example, Horyuji Temple and Osaka Castle are built from hinoki wood. The hinoki grown in Kiso, used for building Ise Shrine, are called 御神木 go-shin-boku, or "divine trees".

Ornamental cultivation

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.

Cultivars

Over 200 cultivars have been selected, varying in size from trees as large as the wild species, down to very slow-growing dwarf plants under 30 cm (12 in) high. A few of the best known are listed below. Those marked agm have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (confirmed 2017).

• 'Crippsii'agm makes a broad conic golden-green crown with a vigorous leading shoot, growing to 15–20 m (49–66 ft) or more tall
• 'Fernspray Gold'agm – 3.5 m (11 ft), arching sprays of green/yellow branches
• 'Kamarachiba'agm – spreading shrub, 45 cm (18 in) tall by 100 cm (39 in) wide, sprays of yellow-green
• 'Kosteri'agm – sprawling dwarf to 2 m (6.6 ft) tall by 3 m (9.8 ft) wide, with brilliant green foliage
• 'Lycopodioides' reaches up to 19 m (62 ft) tall, with somewhat fasciated foliage.
• 'Minima' – under 10 cm (3.9 in) after 20 years with mid-green foliage
• 'Nana'agm – dark green, rounded dwarf shrub to 1 m (3.3 ft)
• 'Nana Aurea'agm – 2 m (6.6 ft), golden tips to the fans and a bronze tone in winter
• 'Nana Gracilis'agm – crowded fans of tiny branches producing richly textured effects; often cited as dwarf but has reached 11 m (36 ft) tall in cultivation in Britain
• 'Nana Lutea'agm – compact, slow-growing, golden yellow selection which has become very popular; yellow counterpart to 'Nana gracilis'
• 'Spiralis' is an erect, stiff dwarf tree
• 'Tempelhof' growing to 2–4 m (6.6–13.1 ft) with green-yellow foliage that turns bronze in winter
• 'Tetragona Aurea' grows to around 18 m (59 ft) tall, with a narrow crown and irregular branching, the scale leaves in 4 equal ranks and branchlets tightly crowded, green and gold
• 'Tsatsumi Gold'agm – 2 m (6.6 ft), contorted branches, yellow-green foliage

Chemistry

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. obtusa essential oil is used in perfumery and personal care products, such as soaps, shampoos, cosmetics. Hinoki wood is used as a traditional Japanese stick incense for its light, earthy aroma.

Essential oil distilled from its wood is uniquely scented and highly valued.

Pollen

Hinoki pollen can cause pollinosis, a specific type of allergic rhinitis. Chamaecyparis obtusa, along with Cryptomeria japonica (sugi, Japanese cedar), is the leading source of allergic pollen in Japan and a major cause of hay fever in Japan.

Gallery

• C. obtusa 'Nana Gracilis'
• Cypress bark is used as a traditional roofing material (hiwadabuki) at Tō-ji in Kyoto
• Illustration
• Bonsai
• 
• Tanzawa Mountains, Japan
• Foliage; underside showing white stomatal lines

References

1. Farjon, A. (2013). "Chamaecyparis obtusa". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T42212A2962056. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42212A2962056.en. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
2. BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
3. ^ Farjon, A. (2005). Monograph of Cupressaceae and Sciadopitys. Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens. ISBN 1-84246-068-4.
4. ^ Rushforth, K. (1987). Conifers. Helm. ISBN 0-7470-2801-X.
5. "Chamaecyparis obtusa - Plant Finder". www.missouribotanicalgarden.org. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
6. Lewis, J. (1992). The International Conifer Register Part 3: The Cypresses. London: Royal Horticultural Society.
7. Welch, H.; Haddow, G. (1993). The World Checklist of Conifers. Landsman's. ISBN 0-900513-09-8.
8. Tree Register of the British Isles
9. "AGM Plants – Ornamental" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society. July 2017. p. 16. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
10. "RHS Plantfinder – Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Crippsii'". Retrieved 30 January 2018.
11. "RHS Plantfinder – Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Fernspray Gold'". Retrieved 30 January 2018.
12. "RHS Plantfinder – Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Kamarachiba'". Retrieved 30 January 2018.
13. "RHS Plantfinder – Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Kosteri'". Retrieved 30 January 2018.
14. "RHS Plantfinder – Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Nana'". Retrieved 30 January 2018.
15. "RHS Plantfinder – Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Nana Aurea'". Retrieved 30 January 2018.
16. "RHS Plantfinder – Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Nana gracilis'". Retrieved 30 January 2018.
17. "RHS Plantfinder – Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Tsatsumi Gold'". Retrieved 30 January 2018.
18. Kuo, Y.-H.; Chen, C.-H.; Chiang Y.-M. (2001). "Three novel and one new lignan, chamaecypanones A, B, obtulignolide and isootobanone from the heartwood of Chamaecyparis obtusa var. formosana". Tetrahedron Letters. 42 (38): 6731–6735. doi:10.1016/S0040-4039(01)01272-2.
19. Krauze-Baranowska, M.; Pobłocka, L.; El-Hela, A. A. (2005). "Biflavones from Chamaecyparis obtusa" (PDF). Zeitschrift für Naturforschung C. 60 (9–10): 679–685. doi:10.1515/znc-2005-9-1004. PMID 16320608. S2CID 819375.
20. Su, Wen-Chiung; Fang, Jim-Min; Cheng, Yu-Shia (1 October 1993). "Hexacarbocyclic triterpenes from leaves of Cryptomeria japonica" (PDF). Phytochemistry. 34 (3): 779–782. Bibcode:1993PChem..34..779S. doi:10.1016/0031-9422(93)85358-X. ISSN 0031-9422.
21. Raha, Suchismita; Kim, Seong; Lee, Ho; Lee, Sang; Heo, Jeong; Venkatarame Gowda Saralamma, Venu; Ha, Sang; Kim, Eun; Mun, Sung; Kim, Gon (31 October 2018). "Essential oil from Korean Chamaecyparis obtusa leaf ameliorates respiratory activity in Sprague‑Dawley rats and exhibits protection from NF-κB-induced inflammation in WI38 fibroblast cells". International Journal of Molecular Medicine. 43 (1): 393–403. doi:10.3892/ijmm.2018.3966. PMC 6257863. PMID 30387810. S2CID 53391206.
22. ^ Lee, Geun-Shik; Hong, Eui-Ju; Gwak, Ki-Seob; Park, Mi-Jin; Choi, Kyung-Chul; Choi, In-Gyu; Jang, Je-Won; Jeung, Eui-Bae (January 2010). "The essential oils of Chamaecyparis obtusa promote hair growth through the induction of vascular endothelial growth factor gene". Fitoterapia. 81 (1): 17–24. doi:10.1016/j.fitote.2009.06.016. PMID 19576968.
23. "Hinoki Japanese Cypress Essential Oil". Stillpoint Aromatics.
24. Su, Sharleen. "Distilling Taiwan's Native Scent". www.taiwan-panorama.com. Taiwan Panorama. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
25. Ishibashi, Akira; Sakai, Kenshi (December 2019). "Dispersal of allergenic pollen from Cryptomeria japonica and Chamaecyparis obtusa: characteristic annual fluctuation patterns caused by intermittent phase synchronisations". Scientific Reports. 9 (1): 11479. Bibcode:2019NatSR...911479I. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-47870-6. PMC 6685964. PMID 31391490. S2CID 199474476.

External links

Media related to Chamaecyparis obtusa at Wikimedia Commons

• IUCN Red List near threatened species
• Chamaecyparis
• Endemic flora of Japan
• Trees of Japan
• Five sacred trees of Kiso
• Garden plants of Asia
• Near threatened flora of Asia
• Ornamental trees
• Plants used in bonsai
• Plants described in 1844
• Taxa named by Philipp Franz von Siebold
• Taxa named by Joseph Gerhard Zuccarini