Editing Bonsai (section)

==Bonsai styles==
{{Main|Bonsai styles}}
[[File:Bald Cypress, 1987-2007.jpg|200px|thumb|right|upright|alt=Photograph of formal upright–style Bald cypress bonsai|Formal upright–style Bald cypress]]
[[File:Dwarf Japanese Juniper, 1975-2007.jpg|200px|thumb|right|upright|alt=Photograph of informal upright–style Juniper bonsai|Informal upright–style Juniper]]
[[File:Pescia, museo del bonsai, juniperus chinensis, stile shakan (inclinato), dalla cina, circa 50 anni.jpg|200px|thumb|right|alt=Photograph of windswept-style juniperus bonsai|Slant-style conifer]]
[[File:Bonsai IMG 6402.jpg|right|200px|thumb|alt=Photograph of cascade-style conifer bonsai|Cascade-style conifer]]
[[File:Black Hills Spruce bonsai forest planting, July 13, 2008.jpg|200px|right|thumb|alt=Photograph of forest-style Black Hills spruce bonsai|Forest-style [[Black Hills spruce]]]]

The Japanese tradition describes bonsai tree designs using a set of commonly understood, named styles.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.magiminiland.org/BigPicture/JapaneseStyles.html |title= Japanese Styles of Bonsai |publisher=Magical Miniature Landscapes |access-date=2016-09-13}}</ref> The most common styles include formal upright, informal upright, slanting, semi-cascade, cascade, raft, literati, and group/forest. Less common forms include windswept, weeping, split-trunk, and driftwood styles.<ref name="bonsai_masterclass_peter_chan"/><ref name="Ma-Ke_Bonsai_Styles">{{cite web | first=Mark | last=D'Cruz | title=Ma-Ke Bonsai Care Guide - Bonsai Styles | publisher=Ma-Ke Bonsai | url=http://guide.makebonsai.com/what-are-bonsai-styles | access-date=2012-12-24 | archive-date=2012-12-27 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121227162309/http://guide.makebonsai.com/what-are-bonsai-styles | url-status=dead }}</ref> These terms are not mutually exclusive, and a single bonsai specimen can exhibit more than one style characteristic. When a bonsai specimen falls into multiple style categories, the common practice is to describe it by the dominant or most striking characteristic.{{cn|date=September 2024}}

A frequently used set of styles describes the orientation of the bonsai tree's main trunk. Different terms are used for a tree with its apex directly over the center of the trunk's entry into the soil, slightly to the side of that center, deeply inclined to one side, and inclined below the point at which the trunk of the bonsai enters the soil.<ref name=autogenerated19>{{cite book | author= Koreshoff | title=Bonsai: Its Art, Science, History and Philosophy| page = 153 }}</ref>
* '''{{nihongo|Formal upright|直幹|chokkan}}''' is a style of trees characterized by a straight, upright, tapering trunk. Branches progress regularly from the thickest and broadest at the bottom to the finest and shortest at the top.<ref>{{cite book |title=Intermediate Bonsai: a course syllabus |last=Zane |first=Thomas L. |publisher=Backyard Bonsai |location=Daytona Beach, FL |date=2003 |url=https://bonsai-bsf.com/magazine/intermediate_bonsai.pdf |page=31 |access-date=2022-12-02 |archive-date=2022-11-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221121185450/http://www.bonsai-bsf.com/magazine/intermediate_bonsai.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* '''{{nihongo|Informal upright|模様木|moyogi}}''' is a style of trees incorporating visible curves in trunk and branches, but the apex of the informal upright is located directly above the trunk's entry into the soil line.<ref>{{harvnb|Zane|2003|page=37}}</ref>
* '''{{nihongo|Slant|斜幹|shakan}}''' is a style of bonsai possessing straight trunks like those of bonsai grown in the formal upright style.  However, the slant style trunk emerges from the soil at an angle, and the apex of the bonsai will be located to the left or right of the root base.<ref>{{harvnb|Zane|2003|page=43}}</ref>
* '''{{nihongo|Cascade|懸崖|kengai}}''' is a style of specimens modeled after trees that grow over water or down the sides of mountains.  The apex (tip of the tree) in the '''{{nihongo|semi-cascade|半懸崖|han-kengai}}''' style bonsai extend just at or beneath the lip of the bonsai pot;<ref>{{harvnb|Zane|2003|page=54}}</ref> the apex of a ''full'' cascade-style falls below the base of the pot.<ref>{{harvnb|Zane|2003|page=60}}</ref>

A number of styles describe the trunk shape and bark finish. For example, the [[Deadwood bonsai techniques|deadwood bonsai styles]] identify trees with prominent dead branches or trunk scarring.<ref name="Bonsai Techniques I">{{cite book | author= Naka, John Yoshio | title= Bonsai Techniques I | publisher=Bonsai Institute of California | year= 1973 | pages=123–124 | isbn=0-930422-31-7}}</ref>
* '''{{nihongo|Shari|舎利幹|sharimiki}}''' is a style involving the portrayal of a tree in its struggle to live while a significant part of its trunk is bare of bark.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bonsaiempire.com/train/bonsai-styles |title=Sharimiki Bonsai |publisher=Bonsaiempire.com |access-date=2009-11-21}}</ref>

Although most bonsai trees are planted directly into the soil, there are styles describing trees planted on rock.<ref name="The Secret Techniques of Bonsai">{{cite book | author= Masakuni Kawasumi II | author2= Masakuni Kawasumi III  | title=The Secret Techniques of Bonsai: A guide to starting, raising, and shaping bonsai | publisher=Kodansha International | year=2005 | pages=86–91 | isbn=978-4-7700-2943-0 }}</ref>
* '''{{nihongo|Root-over-rock|石上樹|sekijoju}}''' is a style in which the roots of the tree are wrapped around a rock, entering the soil at the base of the rock.{{cn|date=September 2024}}
* '''Growing-in-a-rock''' ({{nihongo2|石付}} {{nihongo|||ishizuke}} or {{nihongo|||ishitsuki}}) is a style in which the roots of the tree are growing in soil contained within the cracks and holes of the rock.{{cn|date=September 2024}}

While the majority of bonsai specimens feature a single tree, there are well-established style categories for specimens with multiple trunks.<ref name="The Art of Bonsai: Creation, Care and Enjoyment">{{cite book |author1=Yuji Yoshimura  |author2=Barbara M. Halford  |name-list-style=amp| title=The Art of Bonsai: Creation, Care and Enjoyment | publisher=Tuttle Publishing, North Clarendon VT USA | year=1957 | pages=65–66 | isbn=0-8048-2091-0 }}</ref>
* {{nihongo|'''Forest''' or '''group'''|寄せ植え|yose ue}} is a style comprising the planting of several or many trees of one species, typically an odd number, in a bonsai pot.<ref>{{harvnb|Zane|2003|page=72}}</ref>
* '''Multi-trunk''' styles like {{nihongo|||sokan}} and {{nihongo|||sankan}} have all the trunks growing out of one spot with one root system, so the bonsai is actually a single tree.{{cn|date=September 2024}}
* '''{{nihongo|Raft|筏吹き|ikadabuki}}''' is a style of bonsai that mimic a natural phenomenon that occurs when a tree topples onto its side from erosion or another natural force. Branches along the top side of the trunk continue to grow as a group of new trunks.{{cn|date=September 2024}}

===Other styles===
A few styles do not fit into the preceding categories. These include:
* '''{{nihongo|Broom|箒立ち|hokidachi}}''' is a style employed for trees with fine branching, like elms. The trunk is straight and branches out in all directions about {{1/3}} of the way up the entire height of the tree. The branches and leaves form a ball-shaped crown.<ref>{{harvnb|Zane|2003|page=49}}</ref>
* '''{{nihongo|Windswept|吹き流し|fukinagashi}}''' is a style describing a tree that appears to be affected by strong winds blowing continuously from one direction, as might shape a tree atop a mountain ridge or on an exposed shoreline.<ref name=autogenerated12>{{cite book | last= Koreshoff | title=Bonsai: Its Art, Science, History and Philosophy| pages = 178–185}}</ref>