Pukeiti

Common name: Japanese Red Cedar, Japanese Cedar, Sugi

Family: Cupressaceae (Cypress)

Comments: Habit: A very large tree, reaching up to 70 m tall and 4 m trunk diameter.
Foliage: Evergreen conifer with red-brown bark.
Cultivation information: Grows throughout New Zealand but doesn't do as well in the drier regions such as Gisborne and Canterbury. In NZ Cryptomeria japonica is popular for shelter belts and, increasingly, as a timber tree too.
Further information: Cryptomeria is a genus of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae. Cryptomeria japonica is the only species in the genus. It is endemic to Japan where it is the main timber tree and is known as sugi. Sugi has been cultivated in China for so long (around 1000 years) that it was believed to be native to there but this is amost certainly incorrect. The Chinese trees were known as Cryptomeria japonica var. sinensis or Cryptomeria fortunei.