Chamaecyparis pisifera

Sawara cypress or sawara is a species of false cypress in the cypress or Cupressaceae family and is native to central and southern Japan. In Japan, it is used as a material for building temples, shrines and baths, and making coffins, though less valued than the timber of hinoki (C. obtusa). The wood is lemon-scented and light-colored with a rich, straight grain, and is rot-resistant.

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 or blue-green leaves, and forms retaining the juvenile needle-like foliage.

• Foliage is in flat sprays, leaves being scale-like, 1.5—2 mm long, opposite decussate pairs (crossing to produce an 'x'), with pointed tips (unlike hinoki (C. obtusa)), with white stomatal bands at the bases of leaves. Juvenile leaves are needle-like, 4—8 mm long.
• The species and cultivars can be separated according to 3 types of foliage: Threadleaf ('Filifera'); plume ('Plumosa'); or moss-like ('Squarrosa') (note photos showing the differences). However, that it is common for plants selected for one foliage type to revert to another type.
• Male cones are produced abundantly at the shoot tips; female cones are wrinkled, globose (round), 4—8 mm in diameter, with 6—10 scales in opposite pairs, shrinking when dry to 3—5 mm, very small compared to the cones of hinoki cypress (C. obtusa) or Lawson cypress (C. lawsoniana) and members of the Cupressus genus.
• Bark is reddish brown with fibrous, peeling strips.