Identifying Conifers with Scale-like Leaves

Identification begins by determining whether the sprays are flat (two-dimensional) or three-dimensional. Leylandii, as a hybrid of a 2-D and a 3-D species, comes out neither one nor the other with distinctive, rather coarse foliage which is not completely flat, nor truly three-dimensional.

 
Two-dimensional forms comprise the false cypresses, thujas and one or two others; the smell of the crushed leaves is often an important aid to identification:

There are three species of false cypress, all with small round cones: the extremely common parsley-scented Lawson Cypress which has scale leaves which are neither projecting nor completely blunt, and which occurs in a huge range of cultivars; Hinoki Cypress which has neat blunt leaves and is most often seen as the golden ‘Crippsii’; and Sawara Cypress which has projecting side-leaves, but which is usually encountered as one of its cultivars with juvenile whorled foliage.

Nootka Cypress is a related species with drooping sprays which have projecting side-leaves, and spined cones.

The thujas have coarser, broader leaves than the false cypresses and have small vase-shaped cones: most common is Western Red Cedar which has rather shiny leaves which have a sickly orange scent when crushed. Eastern White Cedar is most commonly seen as one of its cultivars, such as the narrow ‘Spiralis’ with erect sprays.

Similar to the thujas are Oriental Thuja, most easily recognised by its odd knobbly cones and Hiba, a striking tree with very broad rather plastic-looking foliage which has bright white undersides.

The narrow Incense Cedar has rather stretched-looking thuja-like leaves, and large vase-like cones.

 
Three-dimensional forms mainly comprise the true cypresses and the few juniper species that have (predominantly) adult foliage:

There are three common true cypresses: Monterey Cypress, which is broad and spiky, and which has common yellow forms and Italian Cypress, which is tall and narrow, both have large, ovoid and rather irregular cones. The third species, Arizona Cypress, is almost always encountered in its var. glabra form, usually as a blue-foliaged cultivar; it has smaller, neatly spherical cones.

Most junipers have whorled juvenile foliage; Chinese Juniper is the commonest species with largely adult foliage; junipers have distinctive berry-like drupes.

Giant Redwood has rather scale-like foliage with distinctive rising shoot-ends and a very characteristic adult tree shape.

And finally, the ‘Wisselii’ cultivar of Lawson Cypress (and a few cultivars of Hinoki Cypress) have odd, congested foliage.

 
 

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Copyright © 2007 Philip Brassett