Have you come across a Podocarpus macrophyllus (aka Buddhist Pine, 羅漢松 in Chinese) with red leaves? While most Buddhist Pines only have leaves in green, the Buddhist Pine in Hainan Island has Buddhist Pine with red leaves.
New foliage of most Podocarpus macrophyllus comes in a light green color that gets darker as time passes by, but the new foliage of those in Hainan Island comes in red for a striking contrast.
Check out the post – Buddhist Pine – to learn more about this tree that is very suitable for indoor bonsai!
Podocarpus macrophyllus is one of the first few bonsai tree species that I learned about when I first put my feet in the bonsai world. Podocarpus macrophyllus is native to China and Japan. While the tree is called Kasamaki or Inumaki in Japanese, Podocarpus macrophyllus is also commonly called as Buddhist Pine, a literal translation of the tree’s Chinese name – Luo Han Song (羅漢松).
Leaves, Flowers & Fruits
Buddhist Pine has narrow, elliptical leaves that are stiff in texture and spirally crowded together. The tree’s cone-shaped flowers are unisexual. While male cones are yellowish brown, female are greenish.
The oval-shaped fruit which seated on thick fleshy receptacle turns reddish/purplish when ripened, which looks like a little Buddha meditating with a reddish/purplish rope on.
Sun
While Buddhist Pine loves full sun, it can tolerate partial shade, which makes this conifer a nice indoor bonsai tree.
by Mr. Wu Cheng-Fa
Illegal Digging
Recent years, there have been many cases of Buddhist Pines being illegally harvested. As China’s economy thrives, the demand of Buddhist Pine, which is viewed as a lucky charm, rises. A single Buddhist Pine can fetch up to HKD $100,000 (around USD $13,000). The high profits from illegal tree-harvesting have attracted many illegal mainlanders to come to Hong Kong, dig out and smuggle the trees back to China.
I have two rooted Elaeagnus conferta (胡颓子in Chinese) on my bonsai table. I have never given them much thought, but only until recently, my interest in this tree aroused when I saw a beautiful twin trunk Elaeagnus conferta in the bonsai collection of Mr. Wu Cheng-Fa, Chairman of Hong Kong Penjing and Artstone Society.
My two rooted Elaeagnus conferta
Common name: Thory Elaeagnus, Wild Olive
Native: China – Guangxi, Yunnan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia
There usually is a layer of silvery brownish scales covering the leaves of Elaeagnus, giving the tree a silver to grey-brown look from a distance (that’s probably where the nickname “Silverberry” comes from).
The flowers are small, yet fragrant. Fruit is a fleshy drupe with a single seed that is edible. Chinese use the fruits and the leaves of Elaeagnus for food and medicine.
Many of us wonder what tree species we should use for our mame bonsai and shohin bonsai. While some species are more difficult to train as mame bonsai or shohin bonsai than others, I would say that most type of tree that are used for regular bonsai is also suitable for mame and shohin bonsai.
Ideally, we should go for a plant with naturally small leaves. This will make it easier for us to train the bonsai tree as it grows. Deciduous (such as maples, quince, azaleas, elms) and Conifers (such as junipers, pine, and cypress) make good shohin bonsai trees. I would also recommend tropical and semi-tropical trees (such as Ficus, Portulacaria, and Australian Brush Cherry). All these tree species just mentioned are good choices for shohin bonsai and mame bonsai.
As our shohin bonsai grows, we will need to do leaves and root ramifications. This can be quite difficult, as the leaves and roots of our shohin bonsai tree are so small in size. Yet, if necessary, we can use a magnifying lens to help us when carrying out these activities on our shohin bonsai trees and mame bonsai trees. For more details, check this article – Training & Pruning Small Bonsai Trees.
Many people, especially bonsai beginners, wonder what types of tree are suitable for bonsai, and which types of bonsai tree they should buy.
When I first started bonsai gardening, I had the same questions about bonsai trees for my bonsai teacher as well. And very soon, I learned that there is actually no tree type especially for bonsai . We can train almost any tree into a bonsai tree. There are bonsai trees that are easier to train and maintain than other trees. Yet, for a real bonsai expert, who has superb bonsai techniques and skills, trees of almost all tree types can be trained into bonsai trees.
Elm (榆樹)
Fukien Tea (福建茶)
Above are two of my very first bonsai trees – an Elm and a Fukien Tea.
Here is a list of the tree species that are commonly used for bonsai trees. As you notice, I have only put the Latin scientific name, common name, Chinese name, and photos of each bonsai tree type listed. There is a lot of information about the characteristics of these tree types available online. Hence, I won’t write much about tree characteristics here, but will definitely write more on special care techniques for specific bonsai tree species later on.
This list of bonsai tree species is by no means comprehensive. As said in an earlier article – Suitable Tree Types for Bonsai, almost all trees can be used as bonsai trees, and here has only listed some of the tree species that are often used in bonsai. I would suggest you to first check out this list and find the tree species that you are interested in growing as a bonsai tree. Then, do a google search to learn more about the tree characteristics such as suitable climate, common pest problems and such. You can also find more about care techniques and skills of some particular bonsai tree type here in Happy Bonsai.
As said in part 1, I would suggest you to first check out this list and find the tree species that you are interested in growing as a bonsai tree. Then, learn more about the tree characteristics such as suitable climate, common pest problems and such. In addition, there are more articles on bonsai tips and bonsai care techniques of some particular bonsai tree types in Happy Bonsai.
