Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Cupressus

cypress
Habit Trees or large shrubs evergreen.
Branchlets

terete or quadrangular, in decussate arrays (or partially comblike in Cupressus macnabiana).
Leaves

opposite in 4 ranks.
Adult leaves

appressed to divergent, scalelike, rhomboid, free portion of long-shoot leaves to 4 mm;

abaxial gland present or absent.
Pollen cones

with 4–10 pairs of sporophylls, each sporophyll with 3–10 pollen sacs.
Seed(s)

cones maturing in 1–2 years, generally persisting closed many years or until opened by fire, globose or oblong, 1–4 cm;

scales persistent, 3–6 pairs, valvate, peltate, thick and woody.
x

= 11.

Cupressus
Distribution
Warm north temperate regions
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The genus Cupressus in North America consists mainly of small, disjunct, relictual populations, many differing from related populations in color and size of leaves and seeds, activity of leaf glands, glaucousness of various parts, form of growth, and characteristics of bark. Disagreements on the number and rank of taxa reflect these variations. This treatment, with seven taxa, approaches the more conservative end of a spectrum; anywhere from 6 to 15 taxa—species, subspecies, and varieties—might be accepted in the flora. The taxonomy of the genus would benefit from detailed studies of variation in and among populations (cf. J. F. Goggans and C. E. Posey 1968).

The Mediterranean Cupressus sempervirens Linnaeus, usually with a fastigiate habit, is commonly cultivated in California, often away from dwellings, but it does not appear to have become naturalized. Other introduced Eurasian and Mexican species are clearly associated with cultivated landscapes.

Species 10–26 (7 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Most leaves with conspicuous, pitlike, abaxial gland.
→ 2
1. Most leaves without conspicuous, pitlike, abaxial gland, some with inconspicuous shallow or embedded gland.
→ 5
2. Branchlets comblike.
C. macnabiana
2. Branchlets decussate.
→ 3
3. Branchlets less than 1.3 mm diam.; seed cones mostly 1-2 cm, with scales covered with resin blisters; seeds 3-4 mm.
C. bakeri
3. Branchlets 1.3 mm diam. or more; seed cones mostly 2-3 cm, with scales smooth or with scattered resin blisters; seeds 4-6 mm.
→ 4
4. Leaves rarely resin-dotted; c coastal California.
C. sargentii
4. Leaves resin-dotted; interior s California to Texas.
C. arizonica
5. Seed cones 1-2.5(-3) cm.
→ 6
5. Seed cones (2-)2.5-4 cm.
→ 7
6. Leaves often glaucous; branchlets (1.5-)2-2.5 mm diam.; seeds 4-6 mm.
C. sargentii
6. Leaves not glaucous; branchlets 1-1.5 mm diam.; seeds 3-4(-5) mm.
C. goveniana
7. Seed cones oblong; bark fibrous, branchlets 1.5-2 mm diam.
C. macrocarpa
7. Seed cones globose; bark smooth, branchlets 1-1.5 mm diam.
guadalupensis var. forbesii
Source FNA vol. 2. Treatment author: James E. Eckenwalder.
Parent taxa Cupressaceae
Subordinate taxa
C. arizonica, C. bakeri, C. goveniana, C. guadalupensis var. forbesii, C. macnabiana, C. macrocarpa, C. sargentii
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 1002. 1753; Gen. Pl. ed. 5, 435, (1754)
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).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers