Thunderhead pine is a medium-sized evergreen conifer and a compact cultivar of Japanese black pine. It has an irregular growth habit that adds year-round beauty and character to any landscape. Its densely packed dark-green glossy needles and silver-white candles or new shoots are an attractive addition to your late winter or early spring garden. The needles are 3.5 to 4.5 inches long and occur in bundles of two. The cones are up to 3 inches long, oval, and brown. The cultivar originated in 1987 as a seedling selected at Angelica Nursery in Kennedyville, Maryland. This plant prefers full sun, moist, well-drained soils of loam or sand with a neutral to acidic pH. It prefers cool night temperatures. The Thunderhead pine is an excellent choice for a courtyard garden or small city garden. It may be used as a focal point for an Asian or cottage garden. It looks great pruned and sculpted into an artistic shape or left in its natural form. It grows in a tight, upright mound. Seasons of Interest: Foliage: Year-round Fruits: Year-round Quick ID Hints: compact, irregular shape, medium size dark green, glossy needles in bundles of two new growth in the spring is silver-white candles Insect, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems: This tree may be susceptible to adelgid, conifer aphids, pine sawflies, and pine shoot moths. Possible diseases include honey fungus and needle cast diseases. VIDEO created by Andy Pulte for “Landscape Plant Identification, Taxonomy, and Morphology” a plant identification course offered by the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Tennessee. More information on Pinus thunbergii .
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
Soil texture
Loam (Silt); Sand
Soil pH
Acid (<6.0); Neutral (6.0-8.0)
Soil drainage
Good Drainage | Moist
Available space
12-24 feet
NC region
Coastal; Mountains; Piedmont
Mature size
Height: 5 ft. 0 in. - 10 ft. 0 in. | Width: 5 ft. 0 in. - 8 ft. 0 in.
Growth rate
Medium
Maintenance
Low
Canopy layer
3 - Shrub (3-15 ft)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Erect; Irregular; Mounding; Pyramidal; Rounded
Foliage
Needled Evergreen
Leaf color
Gray/Silver; Green; White
Leaf type
Needles; Simple
Leaf shape
Filiform
Leaf margin
Entire
Leaf feel
Glossy
Leaf size
3-6 inches long, < 1 inch wide
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
The needles are glossy, dense, long, and dark green. They measure 3.5 to 4.5 inches long and occur in bundles of two. In the spring, the new growth appears as silvery white candles.
Fruit color
Brown/Copper
Fruit size
1-3 inches long, 1-3 inches wide
Fruit detail
The cones are up to 3 inches long, oval, brown, and taper to a point.