Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Spiralis' is a very slow growing, narrow, irregular upright growing selection of Hinoki cypress with distinctive and desirable twisted branches holding shell-like, dark-green sprays of foliage. After 10 years of growth, a mature specimen will measure 2.5 feet (80 cm) tall and 1 foot (30 cm) wide, an annual growth rate of 2 to 3 inches (5 - 7.5 cm).
This cultivar originated as a seedling introduced in 1930 by W. H. Rogers & Sons Nursery, Chandler Ford, United Kingdom. It was one of many distinctive dwarf Hinoki seedlings selected in the early 1900s by George Gardiner, who at the time, was nursery manager at Rogers & Sons.