Please help identify this conifer

Hi Everybody,

newbie here, I am having trouble identifying the conifer shown in the photo. The local garden centre here tells me its a chamaecyparis lawsoniana but there seem to be hundreds of cultivars! Many thanks in advance

regards

 

Looks like Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Fletcheri', but your nurseryman is correct, there's over 200-300 cultivars, many of them very similar, so that's not definitely the right cultivar.

 

How big is the plant?

 

Hi Michael & Karin,

thanks for your replies, the plant at the moment is about 2m high x 1m wide and pyramid shaped. I'll take a photo of the whole plant and post it as soon as I can.

thanks again

 

Hello,

attached is a photo of the full plant

thanks again

 

not sure of the cultivar,but they do get very big,i have seen them 20+ feet high

 

Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Fletcheri' has reached 15m tall in Britain

 

Funny that habit photo, which looks like a platycladus, would go with foliage spray shown. Are those cones in the second shot?

 

I agree. It looks like a darker colored form of Platycladus.

 

Hi again all,

thanks heaps for all your replies, I'll take another couple of photos as I have some cuttings which have some white cones or flowers on them so I'll post some more images. It's night time here now so will do that in the morning.

thanks again all for your help, it's much appreciated.

regards

 

Still looks OK for C. lawsoniana 'Fletcheri' to me, bearing in mind the moist subtropical climate conditions it is growing in (which promotes broad crowns in many Cupressaceae taxa). If the tree were half the width, it would be very like C. lawsoniana 'Fletcheri' as grown in eastern UK conditions

 

That one is usually bluish, going bronze in winter, with nodding tips. "White cones or flowers" appear to be visible in second photo, adding to impression of platycladus. Will probably turn out to be a juvenile foliage form of Oriental arborvitae, or something else not yet recognized.

 

Hi everybody,

thanks again for all your replies. I have done a bit of searching and the closest image I can find on the internet is C.lawsoniana 'Blue Gem'. The plant in the second photo is just under 2m tall and has been growing for about 7 years. Below is a closeup of the cones/flowers I mentioned in an earlier post. Hope this helps!

thanks again

 

Must admit, those do look like very young Platycladus orientalis cones. Can you look to see if there are any larger, mature cones left from last autumn?

 

Hi Michael,

can you please tell me what I am looking for? Just bigger versions of the cones shown?

thanks

 

Hi Tarzan,

You want something looking like any of these:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Platycladus1.jpg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Thuja-orientalis.jpg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Thuja-orientalis2.jpg

(note on pic names: Thuja orientalis is an old synonym of Platycladus orientalis)

 

Thanks Michael,

I'll have a look after work and let you know

cheers

 

Hi Michael,

close up of an older cone attached. Looking at this photo and the others it doesn't appear as if this one is a platycladis - the leaves seem more spiky on this plant than the one in the photos. Or could this be a difference between cultivars?

many thanks again

 

Here's a closer shot of the juvenile cones

 

Thanks! This one is getting more and more baffling!

That mature cone doesn't look much like Platycladus, most like a Cupressus cone, perhaps Cupressus arizonica. But the foliage isn't at all like any Cupressus, nor is the position of the young conelets on the branches (which is more like Platycladus). Try picking the cone, dry it out, and see what shape the dried scales are, and what the seeds (if any!) are like. Platycladus has smooth oval seeds (shaped like a minute rugby ball) about 5-6mm long; Cupressus seeds are more irregular, with two edges (very narrow 'wings') down the sides, and slightly smaller (3-5mm).

 

Hi Michael,

I'll have a look and let you know. When I took the photo of the mature cone there was another one already open, but I took the photo on automatic and of course the focus wasn't on that cone - I'll have another go tonight.

thanks again for all your help

 

Hi again,

I have attached a couple of photos, I found the open cone as shown. I also broke apart another one, I don't know if these are the seeds or not they don't match your description! I'll dry out the remaining cones and see what happens.

cheers

 

Looks Like Thuja.

 

Thanks! The open come clearly shows it is Platycladus orientalis.

The fragments in the right-hand pics are cone scales; I'd suspect the seeds will already have fallen out, maybe some time ago (they should be ripe in about April in the southern hemisphere)

 

Hi Michael,

I'm convinced! Many thanks for all your help, it is much appreciated. Any ideas on how to find the cultivar? I have been poring over websites but not many have close up photos of the foliage.

Thanks again for your help

regards