The forest (mori) is dominated by three species of trees on Norikura: Kaba (Birch), Momi (Fir) and Haimatsu (creeping pine).  The lowest elevation plots and nearest to the cabin are momi forest with some Kaba and Spruce.  There is an occasional Haimatsue tree in the area but mainly on large rocks that appear to be glacial erratic s except for the fact that Norikura is a volcano, but large rocks none the less.

 Haimatsu growing on a rock.

The momi forest is dominated by momi, but also has kaba, hiamatsu and some spruce in it.

The Momi forest is relatively open and easily walked through standing up, this cannot be said for the other forest types.  The understory shrubs are largely composed of Alder and Rowan (Sorbus).  Above the Momi forest is the Kaba forest.  The Kaba forest is dominated by birch with some momi and lots of haimatsu.  There are fewer shrubs in the Kaba forest than the Momi forest but that is because much of the open canopy space is filled by haimatsu.  However, when the shrubs exist they are a combination of Alder, Sorbus, and Rhododendron.

 View inside the kaba forest, lots of sorbus

There are some really big kaba in the forest.

Above the Kaba forest is the Haimatsu forest.  The Haimatsu is still a new thing for me.  It is about 2-3 meters tall on average and most of the stems lead downhill.  The stems reroot  both whenever they touch the ground and adventitious into the air, in hops to connect with the ground during the winter, perhaps.  Older portions rot out so it is hard to say where the trees begin.  Many trees might once have been part of the same individual but really it is hard to identify.  So we try our best and make up rules to go by.  I have been following Dr. Takahashi’s which is where ever the stem was last rooted is where the stem is from, though sometimes this does not seem satisfying it has proven handy for sometimes I spend 30minutes just looking at a tree trying to tell where it came from.

Adventitious roots

View from inside the hiamatsu forest

View from the outside of the forest.

Haimatsu like many other pine species that grow at high elevation have small cones with seeds that are transported not by wind but by birds.  The North American version of this bird is the Clark’s Nutcracker, the Japanese version is found throughout Eurasia.  Thus it is named the Eurasian Nutcracker or Spotted Nutcracker.

It was not until late in my stay at Norikura that I asked what Haimatsu means for Hai = yes and matsu = pine, does that make it a yes pine? Yes it is a pine but that is not what the name means.  Originally, the name was Haumatsu, hau= creep.  But so it means creeping pine, but somewhere along the evolution of the name Haumatsu became Haimatsu.  Though creeping pine makes much more sense than yes pine.