Profile
Scientific name:	Chamaecyparis obtusa sieb. & zucc. var. formosana (Hayata) Rehder
Common name:	Thick-shelled tree

Features:

Chamaecyparis obtusa sieb. & zucc. var. formosana are large evergreen trees with depressed, obtuse, scaly, non-prickly, pinkish-blue leaves that do not have any white wax underneath. Their cones are spherical, scaly, roughly 1cm in diameter, and cluster on the tips of branches, and their bark is thick, grayish-red, slightly fissured, and peeled back in a rectangular shape. Chamaecyparis obtusa sieb. & zucc. var. formosana stand very erect and their branches and twigs are depressed and dense, making the trees resemble towers. Thus, they are quite different from Tsuga trees, which have more cloud-like bark and more extensively branched trunks.

Habitat:

Chamaecyparis obtusa sieb. & zucc. var. formosana are spread throughout Taiwan's foggy areas at 1500-2500m elevations. It and Chamaecyparis formosensis (Matsum) are the two major tree species comprising Taiwan's Chamaecyparis forest belts. It is endemic to Taiwan and has high economic value.