Once you've seen Pinus densiflora 'Oculus Draconis', commonly called Dragon's-eye Japanese red pine, it's as hard to forget as its mythical namesake. The needles of this slow-growing, picturesque tree are marked with bands of yellow and green.
Chroniclers often add that the tip of a branch, when seen head on, looks like a dragon's eye.
Having never seen a dragon's eye, I can't say if that's true, but there's no denying the effect is one of vivid and shimmering beauty. Most variegated conifers leave me cold, but this one, with its inner, golden glow, warms me all year long. Those soft hues hang on well into winter, then dim a bit as days start to lengthen again. Though floppy and ungainly in its youth, Dragon's-eye Japanese red pine ages with grace. Mature specimens look like something sprung from a bonsai master's vision, with an irregular branching habit and a charmingly tilted trunk.