Facts about Bonsai trees

• Bonsai is a Japanese art form using miniature trees grown in containers.
• The word bonsai is derived from 2 Chinese characters, meaning "pot plant". The word is pronounced "bone-sigh".
• The Japanese tradition of bonsai dates back over 1000 years, and has evolved its own unique aesthetics and terminology.
• The smallest of bonsai, called mame can be just a couple of inches tall. The most popular bonsai are about 6 to 12 inches.
• The purposes of bonsai are primarily contemplation (for the viewer) and the pleasant exercise of effort and ingenuity (for the grower)
• A bonsai tree can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
• By contrast with other plant cultivation practices, bonsai is not intended for production of food, for medicine or landscapes.
• The practice of bonsai is sometimes confused with dwarfing, but dwarfing more accurately refers to research and creation of plant cultivars that are permanent, genetic miniatures of existing species.