Scientific Name: Cercidiphyllum japonicum
Common Name: katsura, Japanese katsura tree
Family Name: Cercidiphyllaceae
Origin: S.E. Asia / Japan / China
Hardiness Zone: Zone 5: (-29 to -23 °C)
Plant Type: Tree - deciduous
Mature Size: 15 - 22m x 7 - 10m (height x width)
Habit: Stiffly upright
Form: Oval - vertical
Texture: Medium
Landscape Uses: Fall interest, Shade tree, Specimen plant, Spring interest, Street (boulevard tree)
Exposure: Full sun
Soil or Media: Acidic, Well-drained
Leaves: Simple, Opposite, Soft flexible, Palmate venation, Glabrous, Ovate, Crenate, Serrate
Flowers: Flowers clustered, White, Green, Red, Mar-Apr
Fruit: Follicle, Green, Brown, Aug-Sep-Oct, (Persistent)
Key ID Features:
Leaves blue-green, opposite (rarely alternate), orbicular, most blades 5-7cm wide, base cordate, margins crenate/serrate, point downward, coppey in spring and then pinkish-yellow in autumn; flowers on female tree, bloom reddish in spring, follicles pod-like, green, most <15mm long. Winter ID: buds small, red, opposite, appressed, 'lobster claws'; fruit on female plants banana shaped, 1-1.5cm long, split on one side, brown; fallen leaves (slow to decompose).