The Mi Nishiki cork bark Japanese Black Pine is a slow growing specimen. I bought it in 2002 from Brent at Evergreen Gardenworks as a 4-year old cutting. Unlike a majority of cork bark pines, Mi Nishiki is growing on its own roots. At 22 years old, this tree is finally approaching maturity.
It doesn’t really have wings, as the older corkers do. Instead, this tree has ridges of cork. For a long time, I was disappointed in my tree’s development. I wanted those wings! But as I worked with it, I began to appreciate my tree for the qualities and characteristics it did have.
Mi Nishiki has an asymmetrical pattern of cork. The ridges of cork are not evenly distributed bilaterally. Additionally, the corking twists, barber pole fashion. It is true that the corking on my tree is still developing, but I don’t expect major changes at this point.