The following is from a post that I've split into two parts - the rest of it is here I have an evergreen shrub in my garden that I love but I don't know the name of it. I took a branch to Southlands nursery and they told me it was a cryptomar. There is no such word on google, nor cryptomer. I thought perhaps you could tell me what it is. It is a rounded shrub which through pruning has now formed four large heads with pendant branches. The branches are rounded with a smooth surface. It has a beautiful rounded shape. Mine is certainly 20 years old. It does not have either smooth or rough stiff leaves standing out on a stem in the way of most evergreens. Instead the handing branches look as though they could have been molded by thick spagetti strands of clay with marks separating the joints.
It is probably a form of Cryptomeria japonica. There are numerous cultivars. Try a Google image search for cryptomeria, this will probably help you identify the cultivar. Please do not hesitate to ask questions of this forum, most specific questions get answered promptly and thoroughly. Joe
Here's a tidy little way to find a plant name when you know only a fragment: Go to the UBC Botanical Garden Collections Search and make sure Contains is selected. Enter in a part of the word, in this case, Crypt. Browse through the results, and you'll figure out that your plant is likely a Cryptomeria japonica. Here's a photograph of a cultivar from UBC Botanical Garden to confirm: Cryptomeria japonica 'Sekkan Sugi'.
