Chamaecyparis formosensis Matsum.
Tree: evergreen; erect; 65 m maximum
height; monoecious. Trunk: 7 m maximum diameter. Bark: brown, or
red; divided in plates, peeling off in strands, furrowed, or smooth – scaly. Crown:
dense, or rather open; columnar to narrowly or widely conical (pyramidal). Branches:
ascending, or horizontal. Ultimate branchlets:
1.2–1.8 mm wide; 2–20 mm long; arranged in one plane; flattened in
cross-section; with white or glaucous marking.
Leaves: only adult leaves on adult plants;
scaly. Scale leaves: 1–2 mm long; 1.2–1.8 mm wide; arranged oppositely;
bright green; apically spreading, or closely appressed;
two types of leaves (differentiation in lateral and facial leaves = dimorphic);
tip acute; with inconspicuous or without glands; without white resin; without
resin glands on leading shoots. Lateral leaves: 1–2 mm long; facial and
lateral leaves more or less equal in length; visibly adjoined (facial leaves
are not overlapping). Facial leaves: 1–2 mm long.
Male cones: 1–3 mm long; 0.5–2 mm
wide; solitary; 10–14 male cone scales; 5–7 male cone scale whorls; ovoid, or
oblong; yellow or bright brown. Male cone scales: arranged oppositely;
1–3 pollen sacs per male cone scale.
Female cones: 6–12 mm long; 5.5–10 mm
wide; 10–14 cone scales; ovoid; cone-like (open after maturity); woody; not
disintegrating after maturity; bright, or reddish; young cones greenish. Female
cone scales: arranged oppositely; inserted on different levels in mature
cones; without several small additional cone scales on the female cone; tip
blunt; with dorsal depression, or with small dorsal umbo; umbo more or less in
the centre, or near the tip. Columella: absent.
Seeds: 2–3.5 mm long; 1.5–4 mm wide; 20–40
seeds per cone; red, or bright – middle brown; 2–6 seeds per female cone scale;
flattened. Seed wings: 0.5–2 mm wide; 2 (almost) equal wings.
Supplement: maturity in the first
year; 2 cotyledones; 22 chromosomes (2n). Cultivation:
cultivated in