The Japanese red-cedar, otherwise called the "Japanese sugi pine" - known to the Japanese as Sugi - is a large evergreen tree which is native to Japan, can reach up to 70 m in height, and can reach trunk diameters of 4m. It serves as the national tree of Japan and is often planted around shrines and temples. Although it is an evergreen, some of the foliage has been known to bronze in cold winters. It is a pyramidal and sometimes irregular evergreen conifer with tiered horizontal branching. It is often found in moist forests that have deep, rich, well-drained soil. The bark is a red-brown color and peels in vertical strips. The needle like leaves are approximately 0.5-1 cm long while the globular seed cones are 1-2 cm in diameter and contain about 20-40 scales. The Japanese Red Cedar is often cultivated in China and planted in rows for timber production in many countries, which is why it has been deemed “economically productive”. The timber is fragrant, weather and insect resistant, soft, strong, and has a very low density, which makes it useful for furniture making and home construction. Our Japanese Red-Cedar won't reach the height of a full grown Red-Cedar since cultivation in the US is associated with much smaller (50-60 ft) versions. They are a monoecious species which reproduce via wind-based pollen and seed dispersal. The Japanese Red Cedar is susceptible to Phytophthora root disease, Armillaria root rot, and Juniper blight.
