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Japanese Cypress🌲
Chamaecyparis obtusa
ヒノキ
An evergreen conifer endemic to Japan. Its timber has a natural luster and pleasant fragrance, and is prized as a premium building material for shrines, temples, and bathtubs. Along with Japanese cedar, it is one of Japan's major plantation species and a common cause of hay fever. The undersides of the leaves bear distinctive Y-shaped white stomatal bands.
Identification Points
- ✓Y-shaped (butterfly-shaped) white stomatal bands on the undersides of leaves
- ✓Leaves are scale-like; branches spread out flat
- ✓Cones are small and round (about 1 cm in diameter)
- ✓Both wood and foliage have a distinctive pleasant fragrance
Habitat
Mountains (planted forests and natural stands)
Season
Year-round (evergreen); March–April (pollen season)
3D Specimen Model
Kyushu University, Shikano Lab (CC0)
View on Sketchfab→Morphological TraitsAI-estimated, needs verification
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf type
Simple
Venation
Pinnate
Leaf margin
Entire
Leaf shape
Needle
Growth form
Tree
Evergreen/Deciduous
Evergreen
Petal fusion
No petals
Stipules
Absent
Ovary position
Superior
Aromatic
Aromatic
Phylogenetic Positionヒノキ科 →
Phylogenetic Position
Gymnosperms > Pinopsida > Pinales > Cupressaceae
Divergence Era
Triassic (approx. 230 million years ago onward)
Evolution Notes
Conifers among the gymnosperms flourished during the Mesozoic. The Hinoki cypress family was merged with the former Taxodiaceae under the APG system into a broadly defined Cupressaceae.
View on evolution timeline →Sources & References
AI-generated, needs verification