The species epithet recognises the Fourth Earl of Harrington (Charles Stanhope; 1780–1851), a nineteenth-century ‘influencer’ and keen advocate for the cultivation of the species in England.

Native to Japan, Korea and Taiwan.

Dioecious. Female trees produce large fleshy arils, each containing a single seed. Male trees need to be present nearby for successful fertilisation to occur by wind.

A small evergreen conifer, no more than 5m tall but spreading nearly as wide. Bark brown, scaly. Foliage has a fishbone look, needles rising stiffly in a ‘V’ from the shoot in two ranks, 3-4cm, leathery, with green-white bands beneath, narrowing abruptly to a soft point. Female cone fleshy and smooth, resembling an olive-sized drupe, green to purple-red, in clusters of 3-6 on slender stalks.

Slow-growing, tolerant of heavy shade, well-adapted to drought conditions. Quite cold-hardy but avoid frost-prone sites.

No notable associations where introduced.

Considered rare and endangered in its native range due to human activity.

A very attractive small ornamental, suiting small shady gardens, with the bonus of edible produce. Its ‘fruits’ have sweet, juicy flesh, eaten raw or cooked, and the seeds are best roasted, when their sweetness, often likened to pineapple, emerges. Its foliage and bark contain an alkaloid used to inhibit tumour growth in chronic myeloid leukaemia.