what is this blue cedar tree?

[theXman]

I see these around now and then and I don't know the name of it and none of the tree's owners ever know the name of it either. they are kinda common, so I'm sure many of you know what's it's called.

looks like in cedar family for sure.

blue, needles, kinda like a juniper or san jose juniper immature foliage. but these are kinda soft.

Anyway, what caught my attention was that this one had two spots that changed to a mature scale foliage that resembled an white cedar/arborvitae. it was not intended for it to do this.

so, i think it tells me the blue looking needle tree is likely a nature screw up; the tree holds onto it's juvinile needle form and nurseries have been growing them this way.

but this one is messing up a little and trying to change to it's mature scale foliage.

here is picture of whole tree.

 

[theXman]

here is the limb tip that is turnig to scale foliage. looks like completely different tree.

 

[TreeCo]

Looks like Chamaecyparis psifera.....maybe the cultivar 'Boulevard'.

What you are seeing is a mutation....and that is where new cultivars often come from.
Here may be some interesting reading on 'Boulevard' mutations that have become cultivars. One looks similar to yours.
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/plaveg/pbrpov/cropreport/cypf/app00006914e.shtml

 

[theXman]

thanks treeco!



Chamaecyparis psifera 'Boulevard' it does appear to be.

a lot of these modern day plants in the landscape seem to be mutations themselves.

I'm still thinking the the 'Boulevard' is a mutation that has been cultivated because the needle is needle form which is generally juvenile in Chamaecyparis.

I've learned a bit recently from a bonsi person, and scale foliage is mature foliage in these types of trees, needle like foliage is the juvenile foliage.

I think the one I found isn't really a mutation because of the two tips I found with the scale foliage, but is breaking away from it's mutation and some of it is trying to mature.

It's so odd, when you see something you haven't seen, then a day later, you see it again: 2 days after I saw this tree, another one caught my eye while driving. I slowed down to look at it and saw it had even more tips, turning to this green scale foliage. So this happens to more than just one 'Boulevard'.

It's like the little junky dwarf alberta spruce. they are just a wierd version of White Spruce that never is supposed to change into the white spruce mature foliage. Right? But sometimes, we find mature foliage sprout off a tip and it looks like a completely different tree.

 

[Backyardboogie]

im pretty sure mutations can also be a response from a stressed tree