The Sawara cypress was introduced from Japan in 1843. The cultivar C. pisifera ‘Squarrosa’ illustrated here is in the main pinetum area of the Botanic Gardens. The type species has adpressed leaves. The more widely grown cultivars (including ‘Squarrosa’, ‘Plumosa’ and ‘Plumosa Aurea’) retain the tree’s juvenile foliage which is more lax with longer leaves, giving the branches a more attractive feathery look than the type. Individual leaves have a grey powdery coating on the backs which contributes to the overall bluish effect of the tree.