Japanese Umbrella Pine
Sciadopitys verticillata
Sciadopitys verticillata is a slow-growing, coniferous tree endemic to the mountain forests of Japan and the sole living member of its family, Sciadopityaceae — a lineage that once spanned the Northern Hemisphere before retreating to a single island nation. In gardens it forms a stately, narrowly conical column of whorled, glossy dark-green cladodes (modified stems) arranged in the umbrella-spoke clusters that give it its common name, and it carries an RHS Award of Garden Merit. The honest catch is pace: growth is genuinely slow — often only 10–15 cm per year — and the tree is unforgiving of alkaline or compacted soils, failing to thrive (and being nearly impossible to replace affordably) if it is wrongly sited on chalk, clay-pan, or drought-prone ground.
Climate fit: narrow (30/100)
Focal point
Structure
Light
Full sun / Part sun
Water
Consistent moisture
Mature size
360-600" tall · 120" apart
Hardy in zones
5a-8b
very cold to frosty winters
Native in Illinois
No
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No edible parts.
Cold hardiness
These values are location-based: this location's current hardiness is the baseline, and the 2050 value is a projected future climate for this same location.
Now
Zone 6b
Plotwright
USDA Zone 6b
-5°F to 0°F
Well-suited
Zone 7a
Plotwright
0°F to 5°F
Well-suited
In plain terms: This location has cold winters. Its winters are projected to keep warming through 2050.
✓
Well-suited today and still thriving in 2050.
Heat tolerance
Heat tolerance values are location-based too: heat days today are observed at this site, and the 2050 value projects this same location under a future climate.
Loading AHS heat-zone data for this location...
Where this plant fits
Suitable across 40 ecoregions — 34 climate-resilient through 2070 · 5 suited today · 1 newly possible by 2070. Best matches first.
Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests
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Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests
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Arizona Mountains forests
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Blue Mountains forests
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Canadian Aspen forests and parklands
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Central Pacific Northwest coastal forests
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Central Tallgrass prairie
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Central-Southern Cascades Forests
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Colorado Rockies forests
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Cross-Timbers savanna-woodland
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Educator packet
Plant packet
Japanese Umbrella Pine educator packet
Sciadopitys verticillata is a slow-growing, coniferous tree endemic to the mountain forests of Japan and the sole living member of its family, Sciadopityaceae — a lineage that once spanned the Northern Hemisphere before retreating to a single island nation. In gardens it forms a stately, narrowly conical column of whorled, glossy dark-green cladodes (modified stems) arranged in the umbrella-spoke clusters that give it its common name, and it carries an RHS Award of Garden Merit. The honest catch is pace: growth is genuinely slow — often only 10–15 cm per year — and the tree is unforgiving of alkaline or compacted soils, failing to thrive (and being nearly impossible to replace affordably) if it is wrongly sited on chalk, clay-pan, or drought-prone ground.
Scientific name
Sciadopitys verticillata
Plant type
tree
Hardiness
5a-8b
Light
full-sun, part-sun
Moisture
consistent
Spacing
120 inches
Classroom prompts
- Which plant traits are observations, and which are care recommendations?
- How would this plant fit change if the garden location moved warmer, colder, wetter, or drier?
- Which source-backed facts would you cite in a lesson handout?
Use the Sources & citations section below for page citation styles and the field-level source list.
Sources & citations
Cite this page
For lesson plans, articles, or research that uses this page. To cite a single upstream fact instead, use its specific source listed below.
Plotwright. (2026, May 17). Japanese Umbrella Pine (Sciadopitys verticillata). Retrieved 2026, June 30, from https://plotwright.com/plants/sciadopitys-verticillata
Sources for every fact
Every fact on this page traces to a source. 18 fields cited - 18 source-backed.
RHS Find a Plant
Botanical research database
Backs 17 fields
Identity
Summary
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Moisture
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