Prefers a moist well-drained sandy soil but succeeds in most soils though it dislikes dry gravelly or chalky soils. Prefers a position in semi-shade but tolerates full shade and it also succeeds but does not usually thrive in full sun. It grows very well in the mild wet coastal region of W. Scotland where it succeeds even in full sun. Requires a humid sheltered site, strongly disliking very exposed positions. A very slow growing plant, a 20 year old specimen at Kew was only 1.3 metres tall. Plants are dioecious, but female plants sometimes produce fruits and infertile seeds in the absence of any male plants. However, at least one male plant for every five females should be grown if you are growing the plants for fruit and seed. Plants have also been known to change sex. Male cones are produced in the axils of the previous year's leaves, whilst female cones are borne at the base of branchlets. This sub-species is more frost hardy than the type species, it succeeds as far north as S. Sweden and Nova Scotia if given a sheltered position.

Fruit. - raw or cooked. Fairly large, about 3cm long. We have no information on this sub-species but assume that the fruit and seed will be edible. The fruit does not always ripen in Britain, before full ripeness it has a disgusting resinous flavor that coats the mouth and refuses to go away for hours. Seed - raw or cooked. Oily.

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame, it should then germinate in the following spring. A hard seedcoat can delay germination, especially in if the seed is not sown as soon as it is ripe. Stored seed should be cold-stratified and sown in a cold frame in the spring. Germination can take 18 months or more. Prick out the seedlings as soon as they are large enough to handle and grow them on for at least their first winter under cover. Plant out in late spring after the last expected frosts. Greenwood cuttings of terminal shoots, August/September in a humid cold frame. Difficult.

An understorey shrub in woodlands.