Lawson’s false cypress (Chaemocyparis lawsoniana)
These two stately, weeping, pyramidal conifers stand in Hamilton Road, probably planted in the 1970s when the Lockwood homes whose gardens they grace were built by George Veldwjik. It is unusual to see tall conifers in the gardens of Cambridge and they are all the more precious for that. Anyone who has visited Vancouver will have been impressed by the beauty of the large conifers in that city’s private gardens.
Lawsoniana were first found by Europeans growing in Oregon and NW California, from sea level to 1500m, most often along streams. It was named and introduced into cultivation in 1854 by botanists working for the Lawson and Son nursery in Edinburgh, Scotland. Normally Lawsoniana grows to about 60 m but many bigger ones have been felled in USA, some of them very old; in 1965 a still healthy tree was felled which was 75m high, over 5 m in diameter, and displaying 1755 rings.
The wood has a ginger aroma, and is light in colour, strong with a fine, straight grain; it is in demand in Japan for making coffins, and for shrines and temples, and for arrows. It is also used for making stringed instruments as it has high tonal quality.
