Pinus thunbergii 'Janome' is a robust, tree-form of Japanese black pine with open branching and long, dark-green needles with a distinctive band of gold near the base. When viewed from the top of a branch looking down through the needles, the appearance is said to resemble the eye of a dragon.
After 10 years years of growth, a mature specimen will measure 12 feet (4 m) tall and 6 feet (2 m) wide, an annual growth rate in excess of 1 foot (30 cm). As with all pines, growth rates and eventual size is easily controlled through a system of candle pruning in spring and aesthetic pruning in summer and fall.
This cultivar originated long ago in Japan. The name was published and was described in 1890 by Ernst Mayr in Monograph der Abietineen des japanischen Reiches. In the Japanese language "janome" tranlates into "eye of the snake" and is seen in many other pines of Japanese origin. This cultivar is also occasionally seen listed under the Latin epithet, 'Oculus Draconis.'
