Hesperocyparis stephensonii

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Hesperocyparis stephensonii
Cuyamaca Peak Cypress.JPG
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Gymnospermae
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Cupressales
Family: Cupressaceae
Genus: Hesperocyparis
Species:
H. stephensonii
Binomial name
Hesperocyparis stephensonii
(C.B.Wolf) Bartel
Cupressus stephensonii range map 4.png
Natural range of Hesperocyparis stephensonii
Synonyms [2]
  • Callitropsis stephensonii (C.B.Wolf) D.P.Little (2006)
  • Cupressus arizonica var. stephensonii (C.B.Wolf) Little (1966)
  • Cupressus arizonica subsp. stephensonii (C.B.Wolf) A.E.Murray (1982)
  • Cupressus stephensonii C.B.Wolf (1948)

Hesperocyparis stephensonii is a species of western cypress known as the Cuyamaca cypress that is found only in two very small areas in Southern California and northwestern Baja California.

Contents

Distribution

Many sources list Cuyamaca Cypress as existing only in the headwaters area of King Creek in the Cuyamaca Mountains of the Peninsular Ranges system, south of Cuyamaca Peak within San Diego County in extreme Southern California. [3] [4] However, according to the University and Jepson Herbaria and the International Conifer Conservation Programme, it can also be found in Baja California two kilometers northeast from El Rincón in Arroyo Seco. [5] [6]

Trees were reported growing as low as 3,000 feet (910 m) in elevation in 1998, but the presence of these individuals today has not been verified. [7] Most individual trees occur at 4,500–5,100 feet (1,400–1,600 m) within the Pacific Southwest Research Station's King Creek Research Natural Area, in the Cleveland National Forest. [8] [5] [9]

Conservation

It is an IUCN Red List Critically Endangered species, and a California Native Plant Society Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants listed Seriously endangered species. [1] [10] The entire native (world) population of the tree was reduced down to thirty to forty individual trees by the 2003 Cedar Fire. [11]

Description

Hesperocyparis stephensonii trunk --
note the very subtle differences in bark color and texture from H. glabra and H. forbesii. Cupressus stephensonii trunk.JPG
Hesperocyparis stephensonii trunk —
note the very subtle differences in bark color and texture from H. glabra and H. forbesii .

Hesperocyparis stephensonii may attain heights of 10 to 16 m (33 to 52 ft). [8] It usually forms a spreading tree with a central leader, only slightly taller than it is wide.

The tree's female cones are about 10 mm in diameter, while cone scales are normally 6–8 mm. Often, but not always, they have conspicuous umbos 3–4 mm, which are high and conical. There are normally 100-125 seeds per cone, not at all glaucous. 3-4 cotyledons are usually present. It is the only western cypress species in California to release pollen in the summertime. [5] [4]

Taxonomy

Hesperocyparis stephensonii was not given a scientific description until 1948. In that year Carl Brandt Wolf published a paper and gave it the name Cupressus stephensonii. [2] [12] At that time it was standard for species classified in Hesperocyparis to be classified as part of a larger Cupressus genus that covered both new and old world species. Though somewhat distinct there was disagreement on its correct classification with it being described as a variety of Cupressus arizonica in 1966 and in 1982 as a subspecies of the same. [2]

In the 2000s new genetic research called into question the classification of New World cypress trees. In 2009 a paper was published by Jim A. Bartel that reclassified most of the North American species into the new genus Hesperocyparis. By the year 2017 this classification was being used by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS database, [13] California Native Plant Society, [14] and University and Jepson Herbaria. [15]

In the past there has been considerable debate about the status of Hesperocyparis stephensonii as a species [8] and some sources continue to use classifications such as Cupressus arizonica var. stephensonii. [6] As of 2024Hesperocyparis stephensonii is recognized as an accepted species by Plants of the World Online, [2] World Flora Online, [16] and the Gymnosperm Database. [8]

Names

Wolf named the species stephensonii to honor Bert Stephenson, a ranger with the US Forest Service who died in 1944. Ranger Stephenson had noticed the trees on King Creek while fighting a forest fire in the area and informed Wolf about them. [12] The common name "Cuyamaca cypress" comes from its native habitat on Cuyamaca Peak. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<i>Hesperocyparis macrocarpa</i> Species of conifer

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<i>Callitropsis nootkatensis</i> Species of conifer

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<i>Hesperocyparis arizonica</i> Species of conifer

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<i>Hesperocyparis bakeri</i> Western North American species of conifer

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<i>Hesperocyparis goveniana</i> Californian species of western cypress

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.

<i>Hesperocyparis pygmaea</i> Californian species of western cypress

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<i>Hesperocyparis guadalupensis</i> Island endemic species of western cypress tree

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 high ground in the northern half of the island. It became an endangered species due to feral goats living on Guadalupe Island that – for more than a century – prevented new trees from growing. In 2005 the goats were finally removed from the tree's 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 other significant human uses.

<i>Hesperocyparis abramsiana</i> Californian species of western cypress

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.

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<i>Hesperocyparis macnabiana</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Hesperocyparis sargentii</i> Californian species of western cypress tree

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<i>Hesperocyparis forbesii</i> Western North American species of western cypress

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<i>Hesperocyparis glabra</i> Species of conifer

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<i>Hesperocyparis nevadensis</i> Californian species of western cypress

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<i>Hesperocyparis</i> Genus of conifers

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.

<i>Hesperocyparis montana</i> Species of conifer

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<i>Hesperocyparis revealiana</i> Species of conifer

Hesperocyparis 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.

References

  1. 1 2 Farjon, A. (16 March 2011). "Cupressus arizonica var. stephensonii:". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e.T33999A2839907. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T33999A2839907.en . Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Hesperocyparis stephensonii (C.B.Wolf) Bartel". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  3. "Hesperocyparis stephensonii". The Calflora Database. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 Lanner, Ronald M. (1999). Conifers of California. Los Olives, California: Cachuma Press. pp. 192–193. ISBN   978-0-9628505-3-0 . Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 Bartel, Jim A. "Hesperocyparis stephensonii". Jepson eFlora. The Jepson Herbarium University of California, Berkeley. Archived from the original on 24 February 2024. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  6. 1 2 Farjon, A. (2019). "Cupressus arizonica var. stephensonii". Threatened Conifers of the World, The International Conifer Conservation Programme. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  7. Wolf
  8. 1 2 3 4 Earle, Christopher J. (17 December 2023). "Hesperocyparis stephensonii (Cuyamaca cypress) description". The Gymnosperm Database. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  9. USFS: King Creek Research Natural Area
  10. California Native Plant Society, Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants (online edition, v8-02): Hesperocyparis stephensonii . accessed 2 February 2017.
  11. Downey, Dave (16 November 2003). "Firestorm 2003: The story of a catastrophe". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
    Downey, Dave (23 November 2003). "Some rare trees survived fire". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  12. 1 2 Wolf, Carl B. (1948). "Taxonomic and Distributional Studies of the New World Cypresses". Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany. 1 (1): 125–127. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  13. Hesperocyparis stephensonii, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Profile, 27 February 2024
  14. "Calflora: Hesperocyparis stephensonii". Wayback Machine. Archive.org. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  15. "Jepson Herbarium: Jepson Flora Project: Jepson eFlora: Hesperocyparis stephensonii". Wayback Machine. Archive.org. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  16. "Hesperocyparis stephensonii (C.B.Wolf) Bartel". World Flora Online . Retrieved 27 February 2024.

Further reading