Common Name: CYPRESS FAMILY Habit: Shrub, tree, generally evergreen; monoecious or dioecious. Leaf: simple, cauline, alternate or opposite (either +- 4-ranked) or whorled in 3s (6-ranked), linear or scale-, awl- or needle-like (sometimes linear and awl-like on 1 pl, or on juvenile or injured plants), generally decurrent, covering young stems. Pollen Cone: axillary or terminal. Seed Cone: +- fleshy to generally woody, generally hard at maturity; scales opposite or whorled, peltate or not. Seed: 1--many per scale, angled or lateral winged, generally wind-dispersed. Chromosomes: n=11. Genera In Family: 30 genera, 130+ species: +- worldwide, especially North America, Eurasia. Note: Incl (paraphyletic) Taxodiaceae. Taxa of (polyphyletic) Cupressus in TJM (1993) now in Callitropsis, Chamaecyparis, Hesperocyparis. eFlora Treatment Author: Jim A. Bartel, except as noted Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.
Common Name: WESTERN CYPRESS Habit: Large shrub, 1- or multi-trunked tree, often pyramidal in youth; monoecious. Stem: young shoots or branches generally cylindric (sometimes +- 4-angled or flat), generally in 3-dimensional clusters. Leaf: opposite, 4-ranked, of 1 kind, scale-like, closely appressed, overlapping. Pollen Cone: terminal, 2--6.5 mm, 1.3--3 mm diam, generally yellow. Seed Cone: 10--50 mm, woody, +- spheric to widely cylindric, maturing 2nd year, generally closed and attached beyond maturity (> 2 years); scales (4)6--12, peltate, abutting, shield- or wedge-shaped, projection generally > 1 mm especially 1st year, pointed, base level with or rising from edge. Seed: 60--150 per cone, flat, wings generally 2, vestigial; cotyledons generally 3--5. Chromosomes: 2n=22(23,24). Etymology: (Greek: western cypress) Reference: Adams & Bartel 2009 Phytologia 91:287--299; Adams et al. 2009 Phytologia 91:160--185; Little 2006 Syst Bot 31:461--480 Unabridged Reference: Bartel et al. 2003 Biochem Syst Ecol 31:693--702
Hesperocyparis macrocarpa (Hartw.) Bartel
NATIVE Habit: Tree 18--25 m; crown asymmetric, often open, flat-topped to widely conic in age. Stem: bark fibrous, rich brown aging ash-gray; ultimate branches 0.9--1.2 mm diam, cylindric. Leaf: bright to dark green, not glaucous. Seed Cone: 20--32(38) mm, spheric to elliptic, brown; scales 8--12, shiny when fresh; +- opening at maturity. Seed: 2.5--5 mm, not glaucous, dull red-brown to black; attachment scar +- white, conspicuous. Ecology: Closed-cone-pine/cypress forests; Elevation: < 50 m in native range. Bioregional Distribution: NCo, CCo, SCo (native to Monterey Peninsula, Point Lobos), widely planted, naturalized outside native range. Synonyms: Callitropsis macrocarpa (Hartw.) D.P. Little; Cupressus macrocarpa Hartw.; Cupressus macrocarpa subsp. lobosensis Silba Jepson eFlora Author: Jim A. Bartel Reference: Adams & Bartel 2009 Phytologia 91:287--299; Adams et al. 2009 Phytologia 91:160--185; Little 2006 Syst Bot 31:461--480 Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange) Listed on CNPS Rare Plant Inventory Previous taxon: Hesperocyparis macnabiana Next taxon: Hesperocyparis nevadensis
Botanical illustration including Hesperocyparis macrocarpa
Citation for this treatment: Jim A. Bartel 2012, Hesperocyparis macrocarpa, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=89298, accessed on December 09, 2023.
Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2023, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on December 09, 2023.
Geographic subdivisions for Hesperocyparis macrocarpa:
NCo, CCo, SCo (native to Monterey Peninsula, Point Lobos), widely planted, naturalized outside native range.
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(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurence).
Data provided by the participants of the
Consortium of California Herbaria.
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CCH collections by month
Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA.
Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).