Chamaecyparis

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Chamaecyparis

Chamaecyparis is genus of conifers

Pinophyta

The conifers, division Pinophyta, also known as division Coniferae, are one of 13 or 14 division level taxon within the Plant. They are Conifer cone-bearing seed plants with Vascular plant tissue; all extant conifers are woody plants, the great majority being trees with just a few being shrubs....
in the family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
Cupressaceae

Cupressaceae

The Cupressaceae or cypress family is a conifer family with worldwide distribution. The family includes 27 to 30 genera with about 130-140 species....
, native to eastern Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
and western and eastern North America

North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
. It is one of several genera within the Cupressaceae that have the common name cypress; for others, see cypress (disambiguation)

Cypress

Cypress is the name applied to many plants in the Pinophyta family Cupressaceae . Most plants which bear the common name cypress are in the genera Cupressus and Chamaecyparis, but several other genera in the family also carry the name, including:...
. Synonyms include Retinispora Siebold & Zucc. and Retinospora Carr.

They are medium-sized to large evergreen
Evergreen

In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaf all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
tree
TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
s growing to 20-70 m tall, with foliage in flat sprays.

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Encyclopedia

Chamaecyparis is genus of conifers
Pinophyta

The conifers, division Pinophyta, also known as division Coniferae, are one of 13 or 14 division level taxon within the Plant. They are Conifer cone-bearing seed plants with Vascular plant tissue; all extant conifers are woody plants, the great majority being trees with just a few being shrubs....
in the family
Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
Cupressaceae
Cupressaceae

The Cupressaceae or cypress family is a conifer family with worldwide distribution. The family includes 27 to 30 genera with about 130-140 species....
, native to eastern Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
and western and eastern North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
. It is one of several genera within the Cupressaceae that have the common name cypress; for others, see cypress (disambiguation)
Cypress

Cypress is the name applied to many plants in the Pinophyta family Cupressaceae . Most plants which bear the common name cypress are in the genera Cupressus and Chamaecyparis, but several other genera in the family also carry the name, including:...
. Synonyms include Retinispora Siebold & Zucc. and Retinospora Carr.

They are medium-sized to large evergreen
Evergreen

In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaf all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
tree
TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
s growing to 20-70 m tall, with foliage in flat sprays. The leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
are of two types, needle-like juvenile leaves on young seedlings up to a year old, and scale-like adult leaves. The cones
Conifer cone

A cone is an organ on plants in the division Pinophyta that contains the plant sexuality structures. The familiar woody cone is the female cone, which produces seeds....
are globose to oval, with 8-14 scales arranged in opposite decussate pairs; each scale bears 2-4 small seed
Seed

A seed is a small Plant embryogenesis plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some Food storage. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant....
s.

There are five or six species, depending on taxonomic opinion:

Chamaecyparis formosensis
Chamaecyparis formosensis

Chamaecyparis formosensis is a species of Chamaecyparis, endemism to Taiwan, where it grows in the central mountains at moderate to high altitudes of 1000?2900 m....
. Taiwan.
Chamaecyparis lawsoniana
Chamaecyparis lawsoniana

Chamaecyparis lawsoniana is a cypress in the genus Chamaecyparis, family Cupressaceae, known by the name Lawson's Cypress in the horticultural trade, or Port Orford-cedar in its native range ....
. Western North America.
Chamaecyparis obtusa
Chamaecyparis obtusa

Chamaecyparis obtusa is a species of cypress native to central Japan.It is a slow-growing tree which grows to 35 m tall with a trunk up to 1 m in diameter....
. Japan.
Chamaecyparis pisifera
Chamaecyparis pisifera

Chamaecyparis pisifera It is a slow-growing Pinophyta tree growing to 35?50 m tall with a trunk up to 2 m in diameter. The bark is red-brown, vertically fissured and with a stringy texture....
. Japan.
Chamaecyparis taiwanensis
Chamaecyparis taiwanensis

Chamaecyparis taiwanensis is a species of Chamaecyparis, native to the mountains of Taiwan, where it grows at altitudes of 1300?2800 m....
. Taiwan.
Chamaecyparis thyoides
Chamaecyparis thyoides

Chamaecyparis thyoides , is a species of Chamaecyparis, native to the Atlantic Ocean coast of North America from Maine south to Georgia , with a disjunct population on the Mexican Gulf coast from Florida to Mississippi....
. Eastern North America.

C. taiwanensis is treated by many authors as a variety of C. obtusa (as C. obtusa var. formosana).

Another species which used to be included in this genus, as Chamaecyparis nootkatensis, has now been transferred on the basis of strong genetic and morphological evidence to the separate genus Callitropsis

Callitropsis

Callitropsis is a genus of cypresses in the family Cupressaceae, with several native to North America and one native to Vietnam in southeast Asia....
as Callitropsis nootkatensis

Callitropsis nootkatensis

Nootka Cypress , formerly Cupressus nootkatensis, Xanthocyparis nootkatensis or Chamaecyparis nootkatensis, is a Callitropsis with a chequered taxonomic and nomenclatural history....
, or back to Cupressus nootkatensis (the name it was originally described under in 1824).

Chamaecyparis species are used as food plants by the larva
Larva

A larva is a young form of animal with indirect developmental biology, going through or undergoing metamorphosis .The larva can look completely different from the adult form, for example, a caterpillar differs from a butterfly....
of some Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera is an order of insect that includes moths and butterfly. It is one of the most speciose orders in the class Insecta, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterfly, skipper , and Hedylidae....
species including Juniper Pug
Juniper Pug

The Juniper Pug is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found throughout the Palearctic and Nearctic regions and the Near East.The forewings are greyish brown with two distinctive black bands....
and Pine Beauty
Pine Beauty

The Pine Beauty is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is a common species of pine woods in Europe.The forewings are typically rich orange brown, but sometimes are dark grey, with two large pale glossary of Lepidopteran termsta and fine streaks along the Glossary of Lepidopteran terms....
.

Cultivation and uses
Four species (C. lawsoniana, C. obtusa, C. pisifera, and C. thyoides) are of considerable importance as ornamental trees in horticulture
Horticulture

'Horticulture' is the industry and science of plant cultivation. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, Crop , plant breeding and genetic engineering, plant biochemistry, and plant physiology....
; several hundred cultivar
Cultivar

A cultivar is a cultivated plant that has been selected and given a unique name because of its decorative or useful characteristics; it is usually distinct from similar plants and when Plant propagation it retains those characteristics....
s have been selected for various traits, including dwarf size, yellow, blue, silvery or variegated foliage, permanent retention of juvenile leaves, and thread-like shoots with reduced branching. In some areas, cultivation is limited by Phytophthora

Phytophthora

Phytophthora is a genus of plant-damaging Protists of the Water mould . Anton de Bary described it for the first time in 1875....
root rot diseases, with C. lawsoniana being particularly susceptible to P. lateralis.

The wood

Wood

Wood is an organic material; in the strict sense wood is produced as secondary xylem in the stems of woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs, etc....
is scented, and is highly valued, particularly in Japan, where it is used for temple construction.