Introduction to Thousandhead Cypress

Platycladus orientalis (Linn.) Franco

Cupressaceae

Alternative names: Platycladus orientalis (Linn.) Franco juniper tree Arborvitae

Platycladus orientalis Platycladus orientalis

Flora of China

Tree, more than 20 meters high, 1 meter in diameter at breast height; bark is thin, light gray-brown, longitudinally Split into strips; branches extend upward or obliquely, the crown of young trees is oval and spire-shaped, while the crown of old trees is broadly rounded. The small branches with scaly leaves are thin, extend straight upward or obliquely, are flat and arranged in a plane. The leaves are scale-shaped, 1-3 mm long, with slightly blunt apex. The exposed part of the leaf in the center of the branch is obovate rhombus or rhombus, with a strip gland groove in the middle of the back. The leaves on both sides are boat-shaped, with the apex slightly incurved, and the back There is a blunt ridge and a glandular point below the pointed tip. The male cones are yellow, oval, about 2 mm long; the female cones are nearly spherical, about 2 mm in diameter, blue-green, covered with white powder. The cones are nearly oval, 1.5-2 (-2.5) cm long, nearly fleshy, blue-green, covered with white powder before maturity, and woody, cracked, reddish-brown when mature; the two pairs of scales in the middle are obovate or elliptical, and the top of the scale back is There is an outwardly curved tip at the bottom. The upper pair of seed scales is narrow and long, nearly columnar, with an upward tip at the top. The lower pair of seed scales is very small, up to 3 mm long, sparsely reduced and not obvious; the seeds are oval. Shape or nearly oval, slightly pointed at the top, gray-brown or purple-brown, 6-8 mm long, slightly ridged, wingless or with extremely narrow wings. The flowering period is from March to April, and the cones mature in October.