Koyama's Spruce, Yatsugatake-tohi [Japanese]       PI-nus KOY-am-ai

• Conifer, evergreen, to 60-65 ft (~18-20 m) in its habitat, narrow conical crown, dense, spreading branches, tips ascending.  Needles straight or bowed, very densely arranged, directed upward and forward, 7-12 mm long and about 1.5 mm wide, 4 sided, 2-4 indistinct stomatal lines above, and 5-8 distinct stomatal lines below.  Cones elliptic-ovate, 4-10 cm long, light green at first then glossy brown when ripe.
• Sun.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 3          Native to Japan.   Endangered.  Very rare in its habitat, only a few hundred trees on Mt. Yatsuga-take (Yatsugadake Mountains) were it grows in small groves of 10-20 trees or mixed stands on north-facing slopes at 1500-2000 m (~5,000-6,500 ft) elevation.
• koyamai: in honor of Mitsuo Koyama (1885–1935), the Japanese botanist who discovered it in 1911,