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Cupressus
 
 
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The genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 Cupressus is one of several genera within 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....
 that have the common name cypress; for the 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:...
.

As currently treated, these cypresses are native to scattered localities in mainly warm temperate regions in the northern hemisphere, including western 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....
, Central America
Central America

Central America is a central geography region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmus portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast....
, north-west Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
, the Middle East
Middle East

File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
, the Himalaya, southern China
China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
 and north Vietnam
Vietnam

Vietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by People's Republic of China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east....
. They are 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 or large shrub
Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
s, growing to 5-40 m tall.






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Encyclopedia


The genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 Cupressus is one of several genera within 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....
 that have the common name cypress; for the 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:...
.

As currently treated, these cypresses are native to scattered localities in mainly warm temperate regions in the northern hemisphere, including western 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....
, Central America
Central America

Central America is a central geography region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmus portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast....
, north-west Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
, the Middle East
Middle East

File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
, the Himalaya, southern China
China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
 and north Vietnam
Vietnam

Vietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by People's Republic of China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east....
. They are 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 or large shrub
Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
s, growing to 5-40 m tall. 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 scale-like, 2-6 mm long, arranged in opposite decussate pairs, and persist for 3-5 years. On young plants up to 1-2 years old, the leaves are needle-like, 5-15 mm long. 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 8-40 mm long, globose or ovoid with 4-14 scales arranged in opposite decussate pairs; they are mature in 18-24 months from pollination
Pollination

Pollination in flowering plants and gymnosperms is the process that transfers pollen, which contain the male gametes to where the female gamete are contained within the carpel; in gymnosperms the pollen is directly applied to the ovule itself....
. The 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 are small, 4-7 mm long, with two narrow wings, one along each side of the seed.

Many of the species are adapted to forest fires
Wildfire

A wildfire is any uncontrolled, non-structure fire that occurs in the wilderness, wildland, or The Bush. Synonyms such as wildland fire, forest fire, brush fire, vegetation fire, grass fire, Peat#Fires, bushfire , and hill fire are commonly used....
, holding their seeds for many years in closed cones until the parent trees are killed by a fire; the seeds are then released to colonise the bare, burnt ground. In other species, the cones open at maturity to release the seeds.

Many species are grown as decorative trees in parks and, in 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....
, around temple
Temple

A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A ??templum?? constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur....
s; in some areas, the native distribution is hard to discern due to extensive cultivation. A few species are grown for their timber, which can be very durable. The fast-growing hybrid Leyland Cypress
Leyland Cypress

The Leyland Cypress, X Cupressocyparis leylandii , is often referred to as just Leylandii. It is a fast-growing evergreen tree much used in horticulture, primarily for hedges and screens....
, much used in garden
Garden

A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials....
s, draws one of its parents from this genus (Monterey Cypress
Cupressus macrocarpa

Cupressus macrocarpa is a species of Cupressaceae endemic to the central coast of California. In the wild, the species is confined to two small populations, near Monterey, California and Carmel-by-the-Sea, California....
 C. macrocarpa); the other parent, Nootka Cypress
Callitropsis nootkatensis

Nootka Cypress , formerly Cupressus nootkatensis, Xanthocyparis nootkatensis or Chamaecyparis nootkatensis, is a Callitropsis with a chequered taxonomic and nomenclatural history....
, is also sometimes classified in this genus, or else in 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....
, but in the past more usually in Chamaecyparis
Chamaecyparis

Chamaecyparis is genus of Pinophyta in the family Cupressaceae, native to eastern Asia and western and eastern North America. It is one of several genera within the Cupressaceae that have the common name cypress; for others, see cypress....
. The cypress is a common tree/shrub in household and public gardens in India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 (called locally , lit., peacock-feathered).

Species

The number of species recognised within this genus varies sharply, from 16 to 25 or more according to the authority followed. This is because most populations are small and isolated, and it is difficult to be sure whether they should be accorded specific
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
, subspecific
Subspecies

In biology, subspecies is the taxonomic rank immediately subordinate to a species. A subspecies is a taxonomic group which is less distinct than the Common descent or species from which it originates....
 or varietal
Variety (biology)

Variety is a low-level taxonomic rank used in botanical nomenclature.In botanical nomenclature or biological nomenclature, variety is a low-level taxonomic rank below that of species and signifies members of different populations can interbreed easily, but not usually such that all traits will run true, and in fact usually will blend...
 rank. Current tendencies are to reduce the number of recognised species; when a narrow species concept is adopted, the varieties indented in the list below may also be accepted as distinct species. See also the New World species (below) for a likely split in the genus in the future.

Old World species

The Old World cypresses tend to have cones with more scales (8-14 scales, rarely 6 in C. funebris), each scale with a short broad ridge, not a spike. Cupressus sempervirens is the type species of the genus, defining the name Cupressus.
  • Cupressus cashmeriana
    Cupressus cashmeriana

    Cupressus cashmeriana is a species of Cupressus native to the eastern Himalaya in Bhutan and adjacent areas of Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India; it grows at moderately high altitudes of 1250-2800 m....
     (Bhutan Cypress)
  • Cupressus chengiana
    Cupressus chengiana

    Cupressus chengiana is a species of conifer in the Cupressaceae family.It is found only in China....
     (Cheng's Cypress) - Conservation status:
    Conservation status

    The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species remaining extant taxon either in the present day or the near future....
     Vulnerable
  • Cupressus duclouxiana
    Cupressus duclouxiana

    The Chinese Cypress is a species of conifer in the Cupressaceae family.It is found only in China.Its natural habitat is temperate forests.It is threatened by habitat loss....
     (Yunnan Cypress)
  • Cupressus dupreziana
    Cupressus dupreziana

    Cupressus dupreziana, the Saharan Cypress, is a very rare Pinophyta tree native to the Tassili n'Ajjer mountains in the central Sahara Desert, southeast Algeria, where it forms a unique population of trees hundreds of kilometres from any other trees....
     (Saharan Cypress)
  • Cupressus atlantica
    Cupressus atlantica

    Cupressus atlantica, the Moroccan Cypress, is a rare Pinophyta tree endemic to the valley of the Oued-n-Fis river in the Atlas Mountains south of Marrakech in western Morocco....
     (C. dupreziana var. atlantica; Moroccan Cypress)
  • Cupressus funebris
    Cupressus funebris

    Cupressus funebris is a species of Cupressus native to southwestern and central China.It is a medium-sized Pinophyta tree growing to 20-35 m tall, with a trunk up to 2 m diameter....
     (Weeping Cypress)
  • Cupressus gigantea
    Cupressus gigantea

    Cupressus gigantea is a species of conifer in the Cupressaceae family.It is found only in China....
     (Tibetan Cypress) - Conservation status:
    Conservation status

    The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species remaining extant taxon either in the present day or the near future....
     Vulnerable
  • Cupressus sempervirens
    Cupressus sempervirens

    Cupressus sempervirens, the Mediterranean Cypress is a species of Cupressus native to the eastern Mediterranean region, in northeast Libya, southeast Greece , southern Turkey, Cyprus, western Syria, Lebanon, Israel and western Jordan, and also a disjunct population in Iran....
     (Graveyard Cypress, Italian Cypress, Mediterranean Cypress, Pencil Pine, Spanish Cypress, Tuscan Cypress)
  • Cupressus torulosa
    Cupressus torulosa

    The Himalayan cypress is a species of Cupressus. This species is found in the Himalaya from 300 to 1800 m and on limestone in Sichuan, China and Vietnam....
     (Himalayan Cypress)


New World species

Cupressus Lusitanica
The New World cypresses tend to have cones with fewer scales (4-8 scales, rarely more in C. macrocarpa), each scale with an often prominent narrow spike. Recent genetic evidence (Little et al., November 2004) shows that they are less closely related to the Old World cypresses than previously thought, being more closely related to 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....
 and Juniper
Juniper

Junipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on taxonomic viewpoint, there are between 50-67 species of juniper, widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere, from the Arctic, south to tropical Africa in the Old World, and to the mountains of Central America....
us than to the rest of Cupressus. These species have very recently (Little 2006) been transferred to Callitropsis.
  • Cupressus abramsiana
    Cupressus abramsiana

    Cupressus abramsiana is a cypress taxon of disputed status, placed in either the genus Cupressus or else Callitropsis. It is endemic to the Santa Cruz Mountains of Santa Cruz County, California and San Mateo County, California in west-central California....
     (Cupressus goveniana var. abramsiana; Callitropsis abramsiana; Santa Cruz Cypress)
  • Cupressus arizonica
    Cupressus arizonica

    Cupressus arizonica, the Arizona Cypress, is a species of Cupressaceae native to the southwest of North America, in the United States in Arizona, southwest New Mexico, southern California, and the Chisos Mountains of west Texas, and in Mexico in Coahuila, Chihuahua , Durango, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas and northern Baja California....
     (Callitropsis arizonica; Arizona Cypress)
    • Cupressus arizonica var. glabra (Cupressus glabra; Callitropsis glabra; Smooth Arizona Cypress)
    • Cupressus arizonica var. (; ; San Pedro Martir Cypress)
    • Cupressus arizonica var. nevadensis (Cupressus nevadensis; Callitropsis nevadensis; Piute Cypress)
    • Cupressus arizonica var. stephensonii (Cupressus stephensonii; Callitropsis stephensonii; Cuyamaca Cypress)
  • Cupressus bakeri
    Cupressus bakeri

    Cupressus bakeri, the Modoc Cypress, Siskiyou Cypress or Baker Cypress, is a species of Cupressus native to the United States, in a restricted area of northern California and southwest Oregon ....
     (Callitropsis bakeri; Modoc Cypress)
  • Cupressus goveniana
    Cupressus goveniana

    Cupressus goveniana is a species of Cupressaceae endemic to coastal California in the United States, where it is found in small, scattered populations, not in large forests....
     (Callitropsis goveniana; Gowen Cypress)
  • Cupressus guadalupensis
    Cupressus guadalupensis

    Cupressus guadalupensis is a species of Cupressaceae native to Guadalupe Island off Baja California, Mexico, and scattered north to southernmost California in the United States; it is always found in small, scattered populations....
     (Callitropsis guadalupensis; Guadalupe Cypress)
    • Cupressus guadalupensis var. forbesii (Cupressus forbesii; Callitropsis forbesii; Tecate Cypress)
  • Cupressus lusitanica
    Cupressus lusitanica

    Cupressus lusitanica, ; Cedro Blanco means White Cedar and is also known as Mexican White Cedar, is a species of Cupressaceae native to Mexico and Central America ...
     (Callitropsis lusitanica; Mexican Cypress)
    • Cupressus lusitanica var. benthamii (Cupressus benthamii; Callitropsis benthamii; Bentham's Cypress)
  • Cupressus macnabiana
    Cupressus macnabiana

    Cupressus macnabiana is a species of Cupressus endemic to northern California. It is one of the most widely distributed of all the native California cypresses, found growing in chaparral, oak woodlands and coniferous woodlands along the inner northern Coast Ranges and the foothills of the northern Sierra Nevada....
     (Callitropsis macnabiana; Macnab Cypress)
  • Cupressus macrocarpa
    Cupressus macrocarpa

    Cupressus macrocarpa is a species of Cupressaceae endemic to the central coast of California. In the wild, the species is confined to two small populations, near Monterey, California and Carmel-by-the-Sea, California....
     (Callitropsis macrocarpa; Monterey Cypress)
  • Cupressus pigmaea
    Cupressus pigmaea

    Cupressus pigmaea is a taxon of disputed status in the genus Cupressus endemic to certain coastal terraces and coastal mountain ranges of Mendocino County, California and Sonoma County, California in northwestern California....
     (Cupressus goveniana var. pigmaea; Callitropsis pigmaea; Mendocino Cypress)
  • Cupressus sargentii
    Cupressus sargentii

    Cupressus sargentii is a species of conifer in the Cupressaceae family.It is found only in the United States....
     (Callitropsis sargentii; Sargent Cypress)


  • Callitropsis nootkatensis
    Callitropsis nootkatensis

    Nootka Cypress , formerly Cupressus nootkatensis, Xanthocyparis nootkatensis or Chamaecyparis nootkatensis, is a Callitropsis with a chequered taxonomic and nomenclatural history....
     (Nootka Cypress) is also sometimes treated as Cupressus nootkatensis