Have you come across a Podocarpus macrophyllus (aka Buddhist Pine, 羅漢松 in Chinese) with red leaves? While most Buddhist Pines only have leaves in green, the Buddhist Pine in Hainan Island has Buddhist Pine with red leaves.

New foliage of most Podocarpus macrophyllus comes in a light green color that gets darker as time passes by, but the new foliage of those in Hainan Island comes in red for a striking contrast.

Check out the post – Buddhist Pine – to learn more about this tree that is very suitable for indoor bonsai!

Leaves, Flowers & Fruits

Buddhist Pine has narrow, elliptical leaves that are stiff in texture and spirally crowded together. The tree’s cone-shaped flowers are unisexual. While male cones are yellowish brown, female are greenish.

The oval-shaped fruit which seated on thick fleshy receptacle turns reddish/purplish when ripened, which looks like a little Buddha meditating with a reddish/purplish rope on.

Sun

While Buddhist Pine loves full sun, it can tolerate partial shade, which makes this conifer a nice indoor bonsai tree.

by Mr. Wu Cheng-Fa

Illegal Digging

Recent years, there have been many cases of Buddhist Pines being illegally harvested. As China’s economy thrives, the demand of Buddhist Pine, which is viewed as a lucky charm, rises. A single Buddhist Pine can fetch up to HKD $100,000 (around USD $13,000). The high profits from illegal tree-harvesting have attracted many illegal mainlanders to come to Hong Kong, dig out and smuggle the trees back to China.

I have two rooted Elaeagnus conferta (胡颓子in Chinese) on my bonsai table. I have never given them much thought, but only until recently, my interest in this tree aroused when I saw a beautiful twin trunk Elaeagnus conferta in the bonsai collection of Mr. Wu Cheng-Fa, Chairman of Hong Kong Penjing and Artstone Society.

My two rooted Elaeagnus conferta

Common name: Thory Elaeagnus, Wild Olive
Native: China – Guangxi, Yunnan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia

There usually is a layer of silvery brownish scales covering the leaves of Elaeagnus, giving the tree a silver to grey-brown look from a distance (that’s probably where the nickname “Silverberry” comes from).
The flowers are small, yet fragrant. Fruit is a fleshy drupe with a single seed that is edible. Chinese use the fruits and the leaves of Elaeagnus for food and medicine.

Many of us wonder what tree species we should use for our mame bonsai and shohin bonsai. While some species are more difficult to train as mame bonsai or shohin bonsai than others, I would say that most type of tree that are used for regular bonsai is also suitable for mame and shohin bonsai.

Ideally, we should go for a plant with naturally small leaves. This will make it easier for us to train the bonsai tree as it grows. Deciduous (such as maples, quince, azaleas, elms) and Conifers (such as junipers, pine, and cypress) make good shohin bonsai trees. I would also recommend tropical and semi-tropical trees (such as Ficus, Portulacaria, and Australian Brush Cherry). All these tree species just mentioned are good choices for shohin bonsai and mame bonsai.

As our shohin bonsai grows, we will need to do leaves and root ramifications. This can be quite difficult, as the leaves and roots of our shohin bonsai tree are so small in size. Yet, if necessary, we can use a magnifying lens to help us when carrying out these activities on our shohin bonsai trees and mame bonsai trees. For more details, check this article – Training & Pruning Small Bonsai Trees.

When I first started bonsai gardening, I had the same questions about bonsai trees for my bonsai teacher as well. And very soon, I learned that there is actually no tree type especially for bonsai . We can train almost any tree into a bonsai tree. There are bonsai trees that are easier to train and maintain than other trees. Yet, for a real bonsai expert, who has superb bonsai techniques and skills, trees of almost all tree types can be trained into bonsai trees.

Elm (榆樹)

Fukien Tea (福建茶)

Above are two of my very first bonsai trees – an Elm and a Fukien Tea.

However, for many of us bonsai tree lovers, who are not (yet) bonsai gurus, we probably want a bonsai tree that is not too challenging, but common and easy to maintain. Ok, all bonsai trees do require quite a bit of care and maintenance. Yet, it is definitely easier to find resources and help for our bonsai tree if it is a common tree species, but not a rare one.

So, here I have compiled a list of tree species that are commonly used for bonsai trees. I hope you will find it helpful.

This list of bonsai tree species is by no means comprehensive. As said in an earlier article – Suitable Tree Types for Bonsai, almost all trees can be used as bonsai trees, and here has only listed some of the tree species that are often used in bonsai. I would suggest you to first check out this list and find the tree species that you are interested in growing as a bonsai tree. Then, do a google search to learn more about the tree characteristics such as suitable climate, common pest problems and such. You can also find more about care techniques and skills of some particular bonsai tree type here in Happy Bonsai.

Check here for more tree species commonly used for bonsai trees (Part 2).

Abies species (Fir) 杉樹
Bougainvillea species (Bouganvillea) 簕杜鹃
Buxus species (Box tree) 黄楊
Carmona microphylla (Fukien Tea) 福建茶
Celtis sinensis (Chinese Hackberry) 朴樹
Crassula species (Jade) 玉葉
Eugenia uniflora. Linn. (Surinam Cherry, Red Brazil Cherry) 八角櫻桃
Ficus microcarpa (Chinese Banyan) 細葉榕
Glycosmis species 山桔
Ilex cornuta (Chinese Holly) 虎刺

Check here for more tree species commonly used for bonsai trees (Part 2).

Check here for more tree species commonly used for bonsai trees (Part 1).

Juniperus species (Juniper) 柏樹
Lagerstroemia indica (Crape Myrtle) 紫薇
Liquidambar formosana (Sweet Gum) 紅楓
Malpighia glabra (West Indian Cherry, Barbados Cherry, Acerola) 印度櫻桃
Murraya paniculata (Orange Jasmine) 九里香 (月橘)
Osteomeles anthyllidifolia 小石積
Pinus species (Pine) 松樹
Podocarpus macrophyllus 羅漢松
Punica granatum (Pomegranate) 石榴
Pyracantha species (Fire-thorn) 火棘
Sageretia theezans (Chinese bird plum) 雀梅 (酸味)
Serissa foetida (Tree of Thousand Stars, Chinese snow rose) 滿天星
Ulmus species (Elm) 榆樹

Check here for more tree species commonly used for bonsai trees (Part 1).