One more point to this- the Kishu and Shimpaku Brian talks about in his article even he describes how the Shimpaku "balls up like a Kishu, but that is how Brent labeled it" so he is rolling with that.. IOW, even Evergreen Gardenworks and the expert Grimmy wanted to ask for verification cannot clearly tell the difference between Kishu and Shimpaku, look at the images
Quick, without going and reading his article- which is which? Anyone???
Then let's dig a little deeper and go to the source of his material:
There is a verbal description there, and. Price what the straibs are called: "Kishu SHIMPAKU" and "Itoigawa SHIMPAKU"... Hmmm. Noticing a trend yet? I don't mean to beat a dead horse but to take it even one step further- let's notice that Brent has only chosen to post pics of two- and Itoigawa and the one he is calling the classic Shimpaku, no pics to show the difference between Kishu and Shimpaku? Odd? Again, I am no expert on the subject of identifying them but it is not for lack of trying... and after reading all the available information I can find I will repeat- Kishu and Itoigawa ARE SHIMPAKU, so the listing is correct. Further I have yet to see any description of how Kishu actually differs from "classic Shimpaku" that makes identifying one over the other possible. I would certainly love it if someone could post pics with noticeable variations between the two and some identifiable data on how to tell with certainty... until such time I will continue to list all the Shimpaku I sell as simply SHIMPAKU, and I feel I have sufficiently reinforced my reasons for doing so.
That said- with such a minute difference between Shimpaku or Kishu- if one even exists which again I have yet to see evidence of- WHY DOES IT MATTER? That should have absolutely nothing to do with whether or not you want to buy this tree! If you want one that has a nice little trunk, has the branches set and it read to be refined to something better, this is a good price for one... if you weren't really interested and just wanted to stir something up? Mission accomplished... thanks for putting more eyes on it for us!