An evergreen tree up to 100 ft high, of graceful pyramidal shape; the bark of the trunk described by Henry as ‘remarkably white’. Branchlets flat and frondose, the ultimate divisions on young trees 1⁄8 to 1⁄6 in. wide, bright green above, glaucous beneath. Leaves in four rows, very much compressed, the side ones folded lengthwise with their margins joined to the upper and lower ones so that only the short sharp points of all four are free; each set of four leaves is from 1⁄8 to 3⁄8 in. long, being considerably smaller in mature trees than in juvenile ones. Cones cylindrical, 5⁄8 in. long, composed of six scales.
Native of S. Yunnan, China; first described and named Calocedrus macrolepis in 1873 from a specimen collected in 1868 by D. J. Anderson; introduced by Wilson in 1899 from Szemao in Yunnan. It was given a First Class Certificate by the Royal Horticultural Society in 1902, which was perhaps rather in excess of its merits, for although it is a quite handsome conifer of the thuja type, it is only hardy in our mildest counties. The free tips of the leaves are not so conspicuous in adult trees as in young ones. It is very rare in cultivation.
L. formosana Florin – This species, a native of Formosa, is closely allied to L. macrolepis and perhaps hardier. Its name in the genus Calocedrus is C. formosana (Florin) Florin.