Keying Shimpaku Varieties

[milehigh_7]

Can someone provide assistance on how to accurately key Shimpaku varieties? Fudo vs Kishu vs Itoigawa?


Please and thank you! I am really tired of not being able to tell folks what variety I can get from my supplier.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Not sure what keying means, but I've been writing a bit about different varieties, and have posted decent photos of them side-by-side for a visual comparison. These are from trusted sources, so the provenance is sure:

http://nebaribonsai.wordpress.com/2...s-among-itoigawa-kishu-and-shimpaku-junipers/

 

[milehigh_7]

Not sure what keying means...

Thanks a ton Brian! As always you are the best! Keying is something you do to definitively identify a living organism. Here's a quick example:

http://oregonstate.edu/trees/dichotomous_key.html

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Clyde, I don't know that they're botanically "keyed" beyond J. chinensis, because each is a slight regional variant, generically named after where they were found. Looking at them, the Itoigawa is clearly different, but kishu, shimpaku, and fudo are all very close.

Do you have an Itoigawa?