Callitropsis nootkatensis

Callitropsis nootkatensis ALASKA CEDAR

Higher Taxonomy

Family: Cupressaceae

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.

Genus: Callitropsis

View Description

Common Name: NOOTKA CYPRESS

Etymology: (Greek: resembling Callitris) Note: Callitropsis Oerst. probably will not be available for use in plant names after 2012, when Xanthocyparis or another genus name probably will be needed for Callitropsis nootkatensis; all other California taxa formerly in Callitropsis (and before that, in TJM (1993), in Cupressus) are here included in Hesperocyparis Bartel & R.A. Price.
Unabridged Note: The genus name Xanthocyparis Farjon & Hiep has been proposed for conservation against Callitropsis Oerst. by a vote of the Nomenclature Committee for Vascular Plants (Brummitt 2007 Taxon 56: 1290--1291), and if the vote is ratified at the next Botanical Congress in Melbourne in 2012, either Xanthocyparis or another genus name would be needed for Callitropsis nootkatensis; all other California taxa formerly in Callitropsis (and before that, in TJM (1993), in Cupressus) have been transferred to the new genus Hesperocyparis Bartel & R.A. Price and it is in that genus that these taxa are to be treated in TJM2.
Reference: Debreczy et al. 2009 Phytologia 91:140--159; Little 2006 Syst Bot 31:461--480
Unabridged Reference: Bartel et al. 2003 Biochem Syst Ecol 31:693--702

Callitropsis nootkatensis (D. Don) Florin ex D.P. Little

NATIVE
Habit: Tree 20--30 m, pyramidal in youth. Stem: ultimate 3 orders of shoots in 2-dimensional, pendent clusters; bark fibrous, fissured, peeling, orange-red to gray-brown to purple-brown; ultimate branches 1.1--1.8 mm diam, +- 4-sided to flat. Leaf: opposite, 4-ranked, of 2 kinds, both scale-like, closely appressed, overlapping, green, not glaucous; glands generally obscure; lateral leaf tips generally parallel to axis of attachment or diverging. Pollen Cone: terminal, 2.4--4 mm, 1.3--2.6 mm diam, generally yellow. Seed Cone: 6--12 mm, spheric, ash-gray; scales generally 4--6; maturing 2nd year, opening, falling at maturity. Seed: < 15 per cone, 3--4.6 mm, brown to red-brown, not glaucous, flat, wings generally 2, vestigial, attachment inconspicuous; cotyledons 2.
Ecology: Cool, moist, forested, well-drained mountain slopes; Elevation: 20--2500 m. Bioregional Distribution: KR (Del Norte, Siskiyou cos.); Distribution Outside California: to Alaska.
Synonyms: Callitropsis nootkatensis (D. Don) Oerst. ex Florin, nom. inval.; Callitropsis nootkatensis (D. Don) Oerst., nom. inval.; Chamaecyparis nootkatensis (D. Don) Spach; Cupressus nootkatensis D. Don; Xanthocyparis nootkatensis (D. Don) Farjon & D.K. Harder, superfl.
Jepson eFlora Author: Jim A. Bartel
Reference: Debreczy et al. 2009 Phytologia 91:140--159; 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: Callitropsis
Next taxon: Calocedrus

Botanical illustration including Callitropsis nootkatensis

Please use this Google Form for Contact/Feedback

Citation for this treatment: Jim A. Bartel 2012, Callitropsis nootkatensis, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=82092, accessed on April 19, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 19, 2024.

Callitropsis nootkatensis

Callitropsis nootkatensis

More photos of Callitropsis nootkatensis
in CalPhotos

Geographic subdivisions for Callitropsis nootkatensis: KR (Del Norte, Siskiyou cos.)	MAP CONTROLS 1. You can change the display of the base map layer control box in the upper right-hand corner. 2. County and Jepson Region polygons can be turned off and on using the check boxes.

(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. MAP LEGEND View all CCH records All markers link to CCH specimen records. The original determination is shown in the popup window. Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location. Yellow markers indicate records that may provide evidence for eFlora range revision or may have georeferencing or identification issues. READ ABOUT YELLOW FLAGS 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).