Conifers - Cupressaceae
Common juniper
 Scientific name: Juniperus communis
Family: Cupressaceae
Shape: variable shrub or small tree, up to 4 m high
Foliage: evergreen leaves in whorls of three, needle-like with sharp point,
up to 1.5 cm long
Female cone: appears as green ‘berry’ ripening to black with
waxy bloom, with three minute points at top indicating the scales forming
the cone
Origin: throughout Europe, northern Asia, North America. One of only three
British native conifers
Remark: the characteristically flavoured ‘berries’ are used
in cookery and to flavour gin.
Swamp cypress
Scientific name: Taxodium distichum
Family: Taxodiaceae
Shape: broadly conical to 40 m high, buttressed at base
Foliage: deciduous soft feathery foliage which becomes russet brown in
autumn
Female cone: purplish rounded cone to 3 cm across
Origin: south-eastern North America
Remark: in damp ground, this tree produces breathing roots (pneumatophores)
- short upright knobbly structures around its base - which act like snorkels
taking up air and transporting it to the true roots.
Dawn redwood
 Scientific
name: Metasequoia glyptostroboides
Family: Taxodiaceae
Shape: narrowly conical to 40 m with buttressed trunk base
Foliage: deciduous; soft flattened leaves to 2.5 cm long, becoming yellow,
pink or red in autumn
Female cone: pendulous rounded cone composed of 20-30 woody scales, to
2.5 cm across
Origin: South-west China
Remark: four other species of Metasequoia are known only as fossils and
this species was also believed to be extinct until 1941 when a living specimen
was discovered in Central China.
Giant sequoia, Wellingtonia
 Scientific
name: Sequoiadendron giganteum
Family: Taxodiaceae
Shape: narrowly conical to 80 m in height; trunk has buttressed base and
may be nearly 25 m in circumference above buttresses
Foliage: evergreen; small scale-like leaves clothing shoot, deep-blue
green in colour
Female cone: pendulous green barrel-shaped cone to 7.5 cm ripens to brown
and often persists on tree
Origin: California, USA
Remark: when it was discovered, the tree was considered so spectacular
that it deserved the name of an important personality; in England it was
named after the great general Wellington, but in the USA it was named after
President Washington. Its scientific name refers to the native American
chief, Sequoia.
Japanese cedar
 Scientific
name: Cryptomeria japonica
Family: Taxodiaceae
Shape: broadly conical to 30 m
Foliage: evergreen; slender dagger-shaped leaves to 1.5 cm, curved forward
along shoots
Female cone: rounded brown cone 2 cm across with 2-3 slender points at
tip; seeds shed in first year but cone remains on tree
Origin: Japan
Remark: this is just one of the woods available in the timber trade under
the name cedar - others include western red cedar (Thuja plicata) and Atlas
cedar (Cedrus atlantica). It is one of Japan’s sacred trees and its
timber is used in the structure of the Japanese gateway here at Kew.
Lawson cypress
 Scientific
name: Chamaecyparis lawsoniana
Family: Cupressaceae
Shape: narrowly conical tree up to 50 m high with nodding main shoot
Foliage: evergreen; four rows of scale-like leaves borne in flattened
sprays; white X-shaped marks where leaves meet beneath shoots
Female cone: rounded cone up to 8 mm across, with 8 scales
Origin: California and Oregon, USA
Remark: this is the most popular garden conifer in Britain; there are
over 200 different cultivars of Lawson cypress available
on the horticultural market.
Western red cedar
 Scientific name: Thuja plicata
Family: Cupressaceae
Shape: narrowly conical to 50 m, branches often to ground level
Foliage: evergreen; very small scale-like leaves glossy green above with
white markings beneath, arranged in flattened aromatic sprays
Female cone: upright ovoid cone to 1.5 cm, yellow green ripening to brown
Origin: north-western North America
Remark: this tree was commonly used by native North Americans to make
canoes, hence its alternative name canoe cedar. They also wove fibre from
the inner bark into hats, baskets and mats.
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