Cupressus nootkatensis 'Green Arrow' is a very narrow, fast-growing form of Nootka cypress with strictly weeping branches and dark, blue-gray-green open foliage, the most glaucous of the pendulous forms. It will usually develop a wide skirt at its base with age and will occasionally develop an aberrant branch from the trunk. This type of plant form should be pruned when young to maintain its narrow profile by removing any branching at the base.
This cultivar is very similar to C. nootkatensis 'Strict Weeper' and 'Jubilee'. All of these selections retain their dark green color throughout the winter. After 10 years of growth, a mature specimen will measure 20 feet (6 m) tall and 2 feet (60 cm) wide, an annual growth rate of 1.5 feet (50 cm) or more.
Buchholz & Buchholz Nursery of Gaston, Oregon introduced this cultivar to the nursery trade in 1984. Renowned nurseryman, Talon Buchholz offered the following comments in his Flora Wonder Blog in January 2012:
'Green Arrow' was found on government land on Vancouver Island, Canada, by Gordon Bentham. He died shortly thereafter, but I was fortunate to introduce the first grafts into the United States. . . . I wonder what would have happened to 'Green Arrow' if Bentham hadn't told me about this fantastic tree, and I didn't rescue it by chance after he died, as the starts were languishing in a bankrupt nursery in Victoria, B.C.
