Q&A from the Miller Library’s Plant Answer Line
GROWING TIPS:
JAPANESE UMBRELLA PINE & WISTERIA
B y R e b e c c a A l e x a n d e r
This regular column features Q&A selected and adapted from the Elisabeth C. Miller Library’s
Plant Answer Line program. If you’d like to ask a plant or gardening question of your own, please
call (206) 897-5268 (UW Plant), send it via the library website (www.millerlibrary.org), or email
directly to hortlib@uw.edu.
LEFT: Japanese umbrella pine in the Pinetum at Washington
Park Arboretum. (Photo by Niall Dunne)
ABOVE: Japanese wisteria in the Seattle Japanese Garden.
(Photography by John and Kathy Willson)
Q
UESTION:
How can I propagate a
Japanese umbrella pine (Sciadopitys
verticillata)?
ANSWER: Not a true pine, Sciadopitys
verticillata is a unique conifer endemic
to Japan. The sole member of its genus
and family (Sciadopityaceae), it has no close
relatives and is considered a “living fossil” due
to its long presence in the fossil record (230 million
years). Called koyamaki in its homeland,
the species is one of Japan’s “Five Sacred Trees
of Kiso” used in the construction of Shinto
shrines. However, it’s now classified as “near
threatened” by the International Union of
Conservation due to pressures from logging
and wood harvesting. This makes growing the
plant in cultivation an important conservation
strategy.
Umbrella pine is an eye-catching tree
that performs well in our region. Indeed, the
Great Plant Picks website (greatplantpicks.org)
22 v Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin