The Japanese hemlock can be found in the New Pinetum, where its delicate cones bring seasonal interest.
Distributed throughout Asia and North America, the genus Tsuga comprises ten or eleven species with flattened leaves whose underside is paler than the upper surface. In all species the small, female cones are borne at the apex of lateral shoots. Tsuga sieboldii is a threatened Japanese endemic. It was first introduced to our gardens in approximately 1853 by the German doctor and plant collector Philipp Franz von Siebold. It can reach 15 m in height and bears attractive female cones with rounded scales, which grow to approximately 2.5 cm in length.