Hesperocyparis nevadensis | |
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Foliage is highly glandular, resinous, and aromatic. | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Gymnospermae |
Division: | Pinophyta |
Class: | Pinopsida |
Order: | Cupressales |
Family: | Cupressaceae |
Genus: | Hesperocyparis |
Species: | H. nevadensis |
Binomial name | |
Hesperocyparis nevadensis (Abrams) Bartel | |
Natural range of Hesperocyparis nevadensis | |
Close-up of natural range of Hesperocyparis nevadensis | |
Synonyms [1] | |
List
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Hesperocyparis nevadensis is a species of western cypress tree with the common name Paiute cypress native to a small area in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California in the western United States. It was formerly known as Cupressus nevadensis.
The Paiute cypress grows in a small area of the Southern Sierra Nevada, within Kern County, California and Tulare County. It is found on soils of granitic origin at altitudes of 3,000–6,000 feet (910–1,830 m). It is found in pinyon/juniper and oak/pine woodlands, chaparral, and closed-cone-cypress forest habitats. [2]
The largest grove composed primarily of the species is located south of the town of Bodfish in the Lake Isabella region. There are eight or so other populations of much smaller, scattered stands in the Southern Sierras.
Hesperocyparis nevadensis is a medium-sized evergreen tree with a conic crown, growing to heights of 10–25 m (exceptionally to 39 m), and a trunk diameter of up to 0.5 m (exceptionally to 1 m). The foliage grows in sparse, very fragrant, sprays varying from dull gray-green to glaucous blue-green in color. The leaves are scale-like, highly glandular, resinous and aromatic, 2–5 mm long, and produced on rounded (not flattened) shoots. [3]
The seed cones are globose to oblong, 25–55 mm long, with 6 or 8 (rarely 4 or 10) scales, green to brown at first, maturing gray or gray-brown about 20–24 months after pollination. The male cones are 3–5 mm long, and release pollen in February–March. [4]
The cones often remain closed for several years, only opening after the parent tree is killed in a wildfire, thereby allowing the seeds to colonize the bare ground exposed by the natural fire.
Like most California cypress, it is a pyrophyte, heavily reliant on wildfire for its regeneration. Fire suppression policies of the past decades have severely limited reproduction of this fire dependent species. It is on the IUCN Red List as an endangered species. [5]
It has been reclassified in the genus Hesperocyparis , with other former Cupressus species native to western North America. [6] [7] [2] It was also previously included as a subspecies within Cupressus arizonica , Cupressus arizonica subsp. nevadensis. USDA: Hesperocyparis nevadensis synonyms; Cupressus arizonica subsp. nevadensis . accessed 8.28.2015 [8]
Pinus sabiniana, with vernacular names including towani pine, foothill pine, gray pine, bull pine, and digger pine, is a pine endemic to California in the United States. Some sources discourage using the name "digger pine," considering it pejorative.
Hesperocyparis macrocarpa also known as Cupressus macrocarpa, or the Monterey cypress is a coniferous tree, and is one of several species of cypress trees endemic to California.
Callitropsis nootkatensis, formerly known as Cupressus nootkatensis, is a species of tree in the cypress family native to the coastal regions of northwestern North America. This species goes by many common names including: Nootka cypress, yellow cypress, Alaska cypress, Nootka cedar, yellow cedar, Alaska cedar, and Alaska yellow cedar. The specific epithet nootkatensis is derived from its discovery by Europeans on the lands of a First Nation of Canada, the Nuu-chah-nulth people of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, who were formerly referred to as the Nootka.
Abies concolor, the white fir, concolor fir, or Colorado fir, is a coniferous tree in the pine family Pinaceae. This tree is native to the mountains of western North America, including the Sierra Nevada and southern Rocky Mountains, and into the isolated mountain ranges of southern Arizona, New Mexico, and Northern Mexico. It naturally occurs at elevations between 900 and 3,400 metres.
Hesperocyparis arizonica, the Arizona cypress, is a North American species of tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to the southwestern United States and Mexico. Populations may be scattered rather than in large, dense stands.
Hesperocyparis bakeri, previously known Cupressus bakeri, with the common names Baker cypress, Modoc cypress, or Siskiyou cypress, is a rare species of western cypress tree endemic to a small area across far northern California and extreme southwestern Oregon, in the western United States.
Hesperocyparis goveniana commonly known as Californian cypress and Gowen cypress, is a species of western cypress that is endemic to a small area of coastal California near Monterey. It was formerly classified as Cupressus goveniana.
Cupressus pygmaea, the Mendocino cypress or pygmy cypress, is a taxon of disputed status in the genus Cupressus endemic to certain coastal terraces and coastal mountain ranges of Mendocino and Sonoma Counties in northwestern California. It is a variable tree, and closely related to Cupressus abramsiana and Cupressus goveniana, enough to sometimes be considered conspecific with them.
Hesperocyparis guadalupensis, commonly known as Guadalupe cypress, is a species of western cypress from Guadalupe Island in the Pacific Ocean off the western coast of Mexico's Baja Peninsula. It was previously known as Cupressus guadalupensis until 2009. It is a medium sized tree with fine green to blue-green foliage. In its native habitat it depends on water from the fogs that envelop the high northern half of the island. It became an endangered species due to feral goats living on Guadalupe Island that prevented new trees from growing for more than a century. In 2005 the goats were finally removed from its island home as part of an island restoration project. New trees are growing and other plants are beginning to recover though the future of the species is not yet assured. Guadalupe cypress is closely related to the vulnerable Tecate cypress which grows on the mainland in Baja California and southern California. It is used as an ornamental tree in Mediterranean climates, particularly in Europe, but has no significant human uses.
The Santa Cruz cypress is a species of North American tree within the cypress family. The species is endemic to the Santa Cruz Mountains within the Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties of west-central California. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the species on the Endangered Species Act in 1987 due to increasing threats from habitat loss and disruption of natural forest fire regimes. In 2016, the conservation status of the Santa Cruz cypress changed to Threatened. The cited reasoning was a decrease in threats against their habitat.
Hesperocyparis lusitanica, the Mexican cypress or cedar-of-Goa, is a species of cypress native to Mexico and Central America. It has also been introduced to Belize, Costa Rica and Nicaragua, growing at 1,200–3,000 metres (3,900–9,800 ft) altitude.
Hesperocyparis macnabiana is a species of western cypress in from California that was previously named Cupressus macnabiana.
Hesperocyparis sargentii is a species of conifer in the family Cupressaceae known by the common name Sargent's cypress. It is endemic to California, where it is known from Mendocino County southwards to Santa Barbara County. This taxon is limited to the Coast Range mountains. It grows in forests with other conifers, as well as chaparral and other local mountain habitat, usually in pure stands on serpentine soils. It generally grows 10 to 15 meters tall, but it is known to exceed 22 meters. On Carson Ridge in Marin County, as well as Hood Mountain in Sonoma County, the species comprises a pygmy forest of trees which do not attain heights greater than 240–360 cm due to high mineral concentrations in the serpentine soil.
Hesperocyparis forbesii, with the common names Tecate cypress or Forbes' cypress, is a nonflowering, seed bearing tree species of western cypress native to southwestern North America in California and Baja California. It was formerly known as Cupressus forbesii.
Cupressus stephensonii is a species of conifer known as the Cuyamaca cypress, and is endemic to Southern California. It has been classified as Hesperocyparis stephensonii. It was previously listed as Cupressus arizonica subsp. stephensonii and Cupressus arizonica var. glabra.
Hesperocyparis glabra, known as the Arizona smooth bark cypress or smooth Arizona cypress, is a conifer native to the American Southwest, with a range stretching over the canyons and slopes in a somewhat wide vicinity around Sedona, Arizona. It is distinguished from Hesperocyparis arizonica by its very smooth, non-furrowed bark which can appear in shades of pink, cherry, and grey.
Hesperocyparis is a genus of trees in the family Cupressaceae, containing North American species otherwise assigned to the genus Cupressus. They are found throughout western North America. Only a few species have wide ranges, with most being restricted-range endemics.
Hesperocyparis montana, commonly known as the San Pedro Mártir cypress or San Pedro cypress, is a species of conifer. It is a tree native to the Sierra de San Pedro Mártir of Baja California state in northwestern Mexico.
Cupressus revealiana is a rare Mexican species of conifer in the cypress family, is endemic to a small area of the State of Baja California in northwestern Mexico.