Types of Hinoki Evergreen

Natural Forms

• Horticulturists and gardeners aren't usually interested in the minute taxonomic subtleties of natural genetic populations of plants. However, the Hinoki cypress does include two natural forms of plants, mainly varying in origin as well as scaled leaf characteristics. Natural variety obtusa grows only in Japan, in elevations up to 7,000 feet, and displays slightly thicker leaves. By contrast, natural variety formosana hails from the cooler highlands of Taiwan between 4,000 and 7,000 feet. Its leaves are about half as thick as the trees native to Japan.

Garden Forms

• A wide array of cultivars exist today that are more favored in garden settings because of their mature plant size, leaf color or leaf texture. When selecting Hinoki cypress plants at a nursery, it's easy to choose the most ornate plant without any consideration of mature plant size. The plants are also slow-growing -- adding only 1/3 to 4 inches of branch length annually -- that it will take a couple generations before a plant will outgrow a mixed border or building foundation bed. Newer cultivars truly have not been around long enough to definitely determine how large it will mature after 100 years. Current literature may say a cultivar matures 6 feet tall, after only a 30- to 50-year evaluation period, but could mature 20 feet taller many decades later.

Large-Growing Cultivars

• Practically all cultivars of Hinoki cypress trees could be labeled as dwarf since they do not get as tall as wild trees. However, with an abundance of small trees and shrubs extant, it's useful to differentiate the Hinoki cypress varieties that mature over 10 feet tall from those that remain more shrublike. Crippsii, also called Crippsii Aurea, develops rich golden needles and eventually matures up to 50 feet tall and 25 feet wide. Goldilocks is perhaps one of the fastest-growing selections, also with golden foliage, maturing 40 to 50 feet tall and 15 to 30 feet wide. Tetragona Aurea develops bronze-gold leaves on a plant growing up to 30 feet tall and 15 feet wide.

Dwarf Hinoki Cypresses

• A wide array of dwarf, shrubby Hinoki cypresses exist, including some "ultra-dwarf" cultivars that are perfect for containers, alpine troughs, rockeries and the front of garden borders. Selections maturing anywhere in the range of 5 to 10 feet tall include Nana Aurea, Tonia, Nana Gracilis, Pygmaea, Tempelhof, Gracilis Aurea, Kerhalo, Kanaamihiba, Kojolhajiba, Opaal and Kosteri. Cultivars so slow growing to seemingly remain under 2 to 3 feet tall in old age include Elf, Minima, Junior, Juniperoides and Juniperoides Compacta.

Recommendation

• The number of cultivars of Hinoki cypress is extensive. Michael Dirr, renowned woody plant expert from the University of Georgia and author of "Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs," recommends consulting a specialty reference book on conifers to gain the best insight on the array of cultivars. Cultivars are developed and named in eastern Asia, North America and in Europe, adding to the numbers. Dirr suggests a book such as "Conifers: The Illustrated Encyclopedia" by D.M. van Geldersen and J.R.P. can Hoey Smith, published in 1996.