Flora of North America species comparison

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Chamaecyparis nootkatensis

Chamaecyparis lawsoniana

Alaska-cedar, yellow-cypress

ginger-pine, Lawson cypress, port-orford-cedar
Habit Trees to 40 m or dwarfed at high elevations; trunk to 2 m diam. Trees to 50 m; trunk to 3 m diam.
Bark

grayish brown, 1–2 cm thick, irregularly fissured.

reddish brown, 10–20(–25) cm thick, divided into broad, rounded ridges.
Leaves

of branchlets mostly 1.5–2.5 mm, stout, occasionally glandular on keel, apex rounded to acute or acuminate, bases of facial leaves often overlapped by apices of subtending facial leaves;

glands usually absent (circular when present).

of branchlets mostly 2–3 mm, apex acute to acuminate, facial leaves frequently separated by paired bases of lateral leaves;

glands usually present, linear.
Pollen cones

2–5 mm, grayish brown;

pollen sacs yellow.

2–4 mm, dark brown;

pollen sacs red.
Seed(s)

cones maturing and opening the first year, in some populations the second year (J.

cones maturing and opening first year, 8–12 mm broad, glaucous, purplish to reddish brown, not notably resinous;

scales 5–9.
Branchlet

sprays pinnate.

sprays predominantly pinnate.
n

.

Owens

and M.

Molder

1975), 8–12 mm broad, glaucous, dark reddish brown, becoming resinous;

scales 4–6.

2n

= 22.

Chamaecyparis nootkatensis

Chamaecyparis lawsoniana
Habitat Coastal mountain ranges Forests of the Coast Ranges with isolated inland populations at higher elevations in the Siskiyou Mountains and on Mt. Shasta
Elevation 0–1500 m (0–4900 ft) 0–1500 m (0–4900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; CA; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
from FNA
CA; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Disjunct inland populations of Chamaecyparis nootkatensis occur in British Columbia and Oregon (V. J. Krajina et al. 1982).

In addition to variation in habit within the species, occasional plants have divergent forms of foliage. One collection (Canada, British Columbia, dry woods near Victoria, S. Flowers s. n., 1 Aug 1950, UC, WIU) has older foliage typical of the species, with all newer foliage strongly flattened, with facial and lateral leaves of strongly unequal size, and with smaller cones. In light of the foliar and habit phenotypes recognized in the horticultural literature (for example, A. J. Rehder [1949] listed, with full bibliographic citations, 22 published varieties and forms best considered as cultivars), no taxonomic significance is attached to this variation here.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

A. J. Rehder (1949) listed, with bibliographic citations, 66 published varieties and forms best considered as cultivars.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 2. FNA vol. 2.
Parent taxa Cupressaceae > Chamaecyparis Cupressaceae > Chamaecyparis
Sibling taxa
C. lawsoniana, C. thyoides
C. nootkatensis, C. thyoides
Synonyms Cupressus nootkatensis Cupressus lawsoniana
Name authority (D. Don) Sudworth: U.S.D.A. Div. Forest. Bull. 14: 79. (1897) (A. Murray bis) Parlatore: Ann. Mus. Imp. Fis. Firenze n.s. 1: 181. [preprint p. 29]. (1864)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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