Scientific name: Picea breweriana

Common name: Brewer’s weeping spruce

Family name: Pinaceae

Useful cultivars and selections:

USDA hardiness zone: 6

Mature height and spread: 20-40m tall, 3-5m wide.

Form: Pendulous, tall and narrow

Water use: moderate

Soil requirements: well-drained

Leaf arrangement: needle-like, spiral

Fall colour: none

Flower/cone/fruit description: cones are cylindrical (hang down) and long; purple when immature, brown when mature.

Limitations: hard to find in nursery

Suitable uses: pest fee

Quick ID: Evergreen. Conifer. Tree. North America. Longer cones than other spruces. Branches have vertical pendulous branches hanging off of them (unique). 4-sided needle, spirally arranged. Each needle is on a woody part. Two white lines underneath. Blunt tipped. Not flexible needles.

Scientific name: Juniperus communis (N)

Common name: common juniper

Family name: Cupressaceae

Useful cultivars and selections:

USDA hardiness zone: 2

Mature height and spread: 5-10feet tall, 8-12feet wide

Form: upright, rounded

Water use: moderate

Soil requirements: well drained, acidic

Leaf arrangement: needle-like.

Fall colour: none

Flower/cone/fruit description: yellow staminate flowers. 3-seeded cone.

Limitations: damaged by wet snow, doesn’t do well in Vancouver. Hard to handle because sharp

Suitable uses: hedges, mass plantings. Adaptable.

Quick ID: conifer.Tree. Evergreen. Asia. Branches point upwards. Needles in clusters of 3 and are pointed. Needles at wide angle from stem. Very pointy, sharp needles (Unique). Cones look like berries.

Scientific name: Cryptomeria japonica Elegans Group

Common name: Japanese cedar

Family name: Cupressaceae

Useful cultivars and selections:

USDA hardiness zone: 6

Mature height and spread: 7-10m tall, 3-5m wide

Form: oval, upright

Water use: moderate

Soil requirements: well-drained, humus rich

Leaf arrangement: needle-like. Simple. Spiral. Alternate

Fall colour: purple/brown

Flower/cone/fruit description: brown, showy cone.

Limitations: none

Suitable uses: very attractive, droops downwards. Great winter colour

Quick ID: conifer. Tree. Evergreen. Needle-like. Simple. Alternate. Pointy ends but soft needles.

https://plantdatabase.kpu.ca/plant/plantImages/891?image=h

https://plantdatabase.kpu.ca/plant/plantImages/891?image=h

Scientific name: Chamaecyparis obtusa

Common name: hinoki cypress

Family name: Cupressaceae

Useful cultivars and selections:

USDA hardiness zone: 4

Mature height and spread: 2-3m tall, 1-1.5m wide

Form: round, dense

Water use: moderate

Soil requirements: well-drained

Leaf arrangement: scale-like, opposite.

Fall colour: none

Flower/cone/fruit description: cone; orange/brown. Spherical; chickpea shape (unqiue)

Limitations: doesn’t tolerate crowding. Dark in landscape.

Suitable uses: mass plantings. Small spaces. Good with compact soil and shade adapted

Quick ID: conifer. shrub. Evergreen. Scale-like leaves, look like a fan (unique). Fans overlap therefore dense texture. Red bark.

https://plantdatabase.kpu.ca/plant/plantImages/215?image=h

Scientific name: Cupressus nootkatensis (N)

Common name: yellow cedar

Family name: Cupressaceae

Useful cultivars and selections:

USDA hardiness zone: 5

Mature height and spread: 15-22m tall, 7-10m wide

Form: pyramidal, weeping

Water use: moderate

Soil requirements: acidic, well-drained.

Leaf arrangement: scale-like (simple)

Fall colour: none

Flower/cone/fruit description: female cone; spiky ball. Male cone green/yellow.

Limitations: central tap root therefore hard to transplant and needs deep soil. Bad smell of leaves (dirt and cat pee)

Suitable uses: large landscape

Quick ID: conifer. Tree. Scale-like (simple), same scales as Chamaecyparis but has yellow stems (unique). Leaves droop.

https://plantdatabase.kpu.ca/plant/plantImages/760?image=h

Scientific name: Pinus parviflora

Common name: Japanese white pine

Family name: Pinaceae

Useful cultivars and selections:

USDA hardiness zone: 5

Mature height and spread: 15-22m tall, 5-7m wide

Form: pyramidal, upright.

Water use: moderate

Soil requirements: well-drained

Leaf arrangement: needle-like. Fascicles.

Fall colour: none

Flower/cone/fruit description: brown cones; persistent and showy.

Limitations: needs space to grow as branches go to ground

Suitable uses: good for habitat. Good for variety of soil types, can grow on slab and containers

Quick ID: conifer. Tree. Evergreen. North America. Needle-like. Fascicles (needles born in bundles, coating that covers these bundles). Bluish/dark green colour of needles. Needles 4-6cm long; in groups of 5 (unique). Flexible needles, twisted. Small cone compared to other pines.

Scientific name: Abies koreana

Common name: Korean fir

Family name: Pinaceae

Useful cultivars and selections:

USDA hardiness zone: 5

Mature height and spread: 4-8m tall, 3-6m wide

Form: upright, pyramidal

Water use: medium

Soil requirements: well-drained

Leaf arrangement: needle-like. Spirally arranged.

Fall colour: none

Flower/cone/fruit description: cone; blue/purple; showy. Spines of cone left over (unique).

Limitations: Unique form, not good in groups

Suitable uses: very beautiful cones, most attractive fir

Quick ID: conifer. Tree. Evergreen. Asia. Flattened needles (very obvious). Two, very wide white strips below. Notched at tip. Dark green needles. Spiraled (needles go around whole stem). Blunt needle tips.

Scientific name: Abies lasiocarpa (N)

Common name: Subalpine fir

Family name: Pinaceae

Useful cultivars and selections:

USDA hardiness zone: 5

Mature height and spread: 20-35 m tall, 1-2feet wide.

Form: long, narrow crown.

Water use: moderate

Soil requirements: well-drained

Leaf arrangement: needle-like. Spirally arranged.

Fall colour: none

Flower/cone/fruit description: cylindrical cones (upright and in clusters); shaped like cigars

Limitations: best at sea level

Suitable uses: large landscapes

Quick ID: conifer. Tree. Flattened needles, bluish on all surfaces. notched needle tips (not pointy). Spirally arranged. Needles turn upwards. Smaller leaves, two grey/white lines on back but not as obvious as koreana.

Scientific name: Abies grandis (N)

Common name: grand fir

Family name: Pinaceae

Useful cultivars and selections:

USDA hardiness zone: 6

Mature height and spread: 10-15m wide, over 30m tall

Form: upright, columnar

Water use: low

Soil requirements: well-drained

Leaf arrangement: needle-like. Two rows

Fall colour: none

Flower/cone/fruit description: cone.

Limitations: very large trees

Suitable uses: most shade tolerant of the firs

Quick ID: conifer. Tree. Evergreen. Flat needles with rounded tips. The underside has two white strips. Many buds at tips. Very dark green. Needles are in two ranks. Smells like grapefruit (Unique)

https://plantdatabase.kpu.ca/plant/plantImages/1242?image=h

Scientific name: Abies amabilis (N)

Common name: Pacific silver fir

Family name: Pinaceae

Useful cultivars and selections:

USDA hardiness zone: 6

Mature height and spread: 20-40m tall, 10-15m wide

Form: pyramidal, upright, regular

Water use: moderate

Soil requirements: well-drained

Leaf arrangement: needle-like. Spiraled.

Fall colour: none

Flower/cone/fruit description: male cone.

Limitations: None

Suitable uses: Good regular shape

Quick ID: conifer. Tree. Evergreen. Needle-like. Flat needles, white lines on bottom of leaf (very obvious). Spirally arranged needles. Smells orange when needles crushed. Needles are in two ranks (twisted on petioles) but also have some sticking up on top of stem (unique).