Thujopsis dolabrata Sieb.et Zucc.

Japanese: アスナロ(翌檜) - アスナロ（英語表記）Thujopsis dolabrata Sieb.et Zucc.

An evergreen tall tree of the cypress family native to Japan, with flattened twigs that have a front and back (illustration). It grows to a height of 30 m, with a straight trunk that can reach 1 m in diameter, reddish-brown bark that is split vertically, and where it has bald spots it turns gray. The branches are thin but spread out horizontally to form an egg-shaped, cone-shaped crown. Young branches have scale leaves arranged in opposite crosses, with the dorsal and ventral leaves on the front and back of the branches tongue-shaped or diamond-shaped and those on the sides boat-shaped, both 4 to 5 mm long, and the leaves on the underside are white with wide stomatal bands. They bloom at the ends of the twigs in early spring, with small male flowers that are egg-shaped and elliptical. The female flowers are oblate, pale yellow-green with a reddish tinge, and have four pairs of scales arranged in opposite crosses, with each scale bearing five or three ovules.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

日本特産のヒノキ科の常緑高木で，小枝は平たくなり表裏の別ができる（イラスト）。高さ30m，幹は径1mにもなり通直，樹皮は赤褐色で縦に裂け，はげた跡は灰色となる。枝は細いが横に張って卵状円錐形の樹冠をつくる。若枝には鱗片葉が十字対生し，枝の表裏の背腹葉は舌形またはひし形，側方のものは舟形で，ともに長さ4～5mm，裏面の葉は広い気孔帯があって白い。早春，小枝端に開花し，雄花は卵状楕円形で小さい。雌花は扁球形，淡黄緑色で紅みを帯び，4対の果鱗が十字対生し，各片は5または3個の胚珠をもつ。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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