I have decided this is Pinus parviflora 'Adcock's Dwarf', but would appreciate being corrected. We were fooled by the new growth that looked like thicker single leaves, but I can see now that they are bundled leaves. This Pinus densiflora 'Umbraculifera' has an amazing number of cones clustered together. The Larix speciosa is in the Asian Garden, not far from the entrance. It has very flashy cones.
Larix speciosa, if true, is the fist time I've heard of it in cultivation (outside of China, anyway). Can you get the accession details, please? Native to the Yunnan - Burma border area; if it isn't from there, then it is probably its close relative L. griffithii from further west in the Himalaya.
The accession info says "Dulong-Gaoligongshan Expedition to Yunnan, 2001" and "Gongshan, Qiqi, 3200m". Peter Wharton's trip report at http://forums.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/attachments/botanical_exploration-pdf.788/ does not mention this particular find. There is no mention of others on the trip to ask about it, and unfortunately, Peter Wharton is no longer living, but it seems it would be the real deal. Thanks for pointing out how special this is.
Excellent, thanks! Yes, that's the real thing; looked up the location, it's at approx 27.71N 98.57E. Yes, very special indeed!