Identification help please.

[Conor Wright]

Anyone know what this is.. about 5 mtrs tall, apparently grown from a cutting which was taken off a bouquet of flowers about 20 years ago! I've been told it holds most of its red colour all year round, except for the first spring shoots which are an almost bluish green.. would be great to find out what it is! Thanks in advance.

[openspaceman]

8 minutes ago, Conor Wright said:

 

Anyone know what this is.. about 5 mtrs tall, apparently grown from a cutting which was taken off a bouquet of flowers about 20 years ago! I've been told it holds most of its red colour all year round, except for the first spring shoots which are an almost bluish green.. would be great to find out what it is! Thanks in advance.

 

Cryptomeria Japonica?

[nepia]

That's my guess too.  Conor if we're right it's horrible stuff to handle; have you tried?  The tiny needles are sharp.

[Conor Wright]

I think you are right! (Having googled it) Many thanks. Shows how much I know!

[Mark2]

Cleptimera japonica elgens 

[Conor Wright]

That's my guess too.  Conor if we're right it's horrible stuff to handle; have you tried?  The tiny needles are sharp.

Yep, have taken about 50 cuttings off it today as my better half wants to propagate some for our own garden! A mix of semi hardwood heel, internodal and a couple of hardwood.. hopefully some take!
To be honest I didn't find them overly prickly.. nothing like pyracantha but the odd one stuck in a little, the newer growth was almost soft, the prickly bits were more so the semi dead bits further down the stems.. wouldn't like to be wrestling a big bit of it to the chipper though. Great tree for impact amongst a mixed shrubbery.. they will mostly be kept trimmed for ornamental purposes but I may let a few off in the wood. From the couple of minutes I spent looking it up, it seems to be the original tree used by the Japanese for burnt cedar cladding, Shou sugi ban

[nepia]

Yep, Japanese Cedar is its misleading anglicised name.

[htb]

Florists like it

[openspaceman]

1 hour ago, Conor Wright said:

Yep, have taken about 50 cuttings off it today as my better half wants to propagate some for our own garden! A mix of semi hardwood heel, internodal and a couple of hardwood.. hopefully some take!

Let us know when they are rooted, I've only struck cuttings from simple things, like bay.

1 hour ago, Conor Wright said:

To be honest I didn't find them overly prickly.. nothing like pyracantha but the odd one stuck in a little, the newer growth was almost soft, the prickly bits were more so the semi dead bits further down the stems..

As it was very red it is probably the variety elegans and this is selected because it has juvenile foliage throughout its life. I imagine in its native environment it sits as a juvenile under the parent trees waiting for them to fall over, then takes off but this "sport" never learned to grow up. A bit like me apparently.

[daltontrees]

Yes, Cryptomeria japonica 'Elegans'