Culture
Best grown in moist, acidic, well-drained soils in part shade. Tolerates full sun, but soils should not be allowed to dry out. Best sited in an area protected from drying winter winds at the cold end of its hardiness range. Branches killed by winter should be promptly pruned out.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Cunninghamia lanceolata, commonly called China fir, is an evergreen conifer that is native to forested areas of China and Taiwan where it may reach 150’ in height. In cultivation, it more typically grows to 35-70’ tall with a pyramidal form and tiered, spreading, horizontal branching that is slightly pendulous at the tips. It tends to sucker and often grows in a multi-trunked form. Sharply-pointed, finely-toothed, green to blue-green needles (to 2.75” long) are spirally arranged but twisted at the base to give the appearance of being two-ranked. Foliage may bronze in cold winters. Oval to globose fruiting cones (1.5” diameter) appear in small groups (1-3) at the shoot ends. Brown bark of mature trees exfoliates in strips to reveal reddish-brown inner bark. This is a prized timber tree in China.
Genus name honors James Cunninghame (d. c. 1709), East India Company surgeon at Amoy, China.
Specific epithet means spear-shaped.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems. Winter dieback is possible at the cold end of the hardiness range.
Uses
In warm winter climates, China fir can develop into a very interesting and handsome specimen.