SUGI-CRYPTOMERIA すぎ Cryptomeria japonica
CLASSIFICATION: Cypress Family
GENERAL： Tall, fast-growing conifer endemic to Japan. Prefers thick soils along valley bottoms, but is the most widely planted timber tree on hills and mountainsides all over Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu Islands. Sugi wood is softer and not as highly valued as hinoki cypress, but grows faster and is easier to maintain. Most of the ubiquitous sugi plantations seen today were established in the 1950s to 1970s, by clear-cutting the diverse natural broad-leaved forests and replanting them with a single species. Sugi now accounts for about 18% of all forested land in Japan, and estimates place the number of trees at around 10 billion!
According to Japanese classic mythology, the first sugi were created at Izumo, when the kami Susanoo, younger brother of Amaterasu the Sun Goddess, plucked out his chest hairs and scattered them across the mountainside. The trees, Susanoo ordered, should be used for building boats.
Very long-lived. On Yakushima Island trees regularly live for 1000 years, and some famous specimens are estimated to be well over 2000 years.
SOFUKEI WOOD: Numerous tall trees mixed in with hinoki cypress and shira-kashi ring-cupped oaks. A planted row of sugi and shira-kashi can be seen near the western edge of the wood.
TRUNK/BARK: Timber standards grow straight and tall. Bark is greyish or reddish brown, and peels off in long vertical strips. Strips of sugi bark are used by squirrels to weave their nests.
LEAVES: sharp, forward-pointing needles about 1 cm long, densely packed in whorls.
FLOWERS: Wind pollinated, with separate male and female flowers on each tree (monoecious). The male flower clusters produce enormous amounts of fine, light, wind-carried pollen that is the number one cause of hay fever in Japan. Flowers bloom in late March, a little earlier than the hinoki.
FRUITS: The woody cones are round, spiky, about 2-2.5 cm in diameter; and when mature open to release thin, flat seeds edged with narrow wings that help them fly away on the wind. Cones remain on the branches for several years.
COMPARE: Trunk closely resembles that of the hinoki cypress. Sugi bark tends to be thinner than hinoki, but the surest strategy is to check the fallen leaves and branches under the tree.
分類：ヒノキ科
一般：山地の沢沿いに自生する日本固有の針葉樹で、成長が早く、材質も優れているため、古代から各地で広く植林されてきた。現在、スギ植林は日本の森林面積の約2割を占めており、スギはこの国で最も多く見られる樹木だと言える。
また、日本最古の歴史書とされる『日本書紀』には、出雲に天下ったスサノオ命が、自らの髭の毛を抜いてまき散らしたことで、最初のスギが生まれたと伝えられている。さらに、スギは寿命が非常に長く、屋久島特産の「屋久スギ」は樹齢1000年を超え、世界遺産として有名な「縄文杉」は樹齢数千年と推定されている。
草深の森：林内には多く植えられており、西側には「スギ・シラカシ並木」も見られる。
樹皮/幹；植林された木は幹がまっすぐに伸び、高さは50メートルを超えるとも言われている。樹皮は赤褐色で、縦に裂けて薄い短冊状にはがれる。リスはそのスギの皮を剥がして、巣作りに使う。
葉：長さ１ｃｍ前後の鎌状で、先端は尖っている。
花：雌雄同株の風媒花。春にはヒノキより一足早く開花し、おびただしい数の雄花から大量の花粉が風に乗って放出される。それが多くの国民を悩ませる花粉症の原因となる。
果実：直径約2〜2.5cmの丸い球果で、未熟なうちは緑色だが、後に褐色に変わる。成熟すると鱗片が開き、翼のある薄い種子を周囲に飛ばす。球果は種子を出し切った後も、1~2年は枝に残る。
比較：樹皮はヒノキに似ているが、高い位置の葉を双眼鏡で観察したり、林床に落ちた枝を拾って、葉を比べたりすれば、確実に識別できる。
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