Flora of North America species comparison

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Cupressus goveniana

Cupressus

Gowen cypress, Mendocino cypress, Santa Cruz cypress

cypress
Habit Shrubs or small trees usually to 10 m, but to 50 m under favorable conditions, or bearing cones at as little as 2 dm on shallow hardpan soils; crown globose to columnar, dense or sparse. Trees or large shrubs evergreen.
Bark

smooth or rough, fibrous.

Branchlets

decussate, 1–1.5 mm diam.

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

without abaxial gland or sometimes with embedded abaxial gland that does not produce drop of resin, not glaucous.

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

3–4 × 1.5–2 mm;

pollen sacs 3–6.

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

cones globose, 1–2.5(–3) cm, grayish brown, not glaucous;

scales 3–5 pairs, smooth, umbo nearly flat at maturity.

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 goveniana

Cupressus
Habitat Coastal closed-cone pine forests, especially on sterile soils
Elevation 60–800 m (200–2600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
Warm north temperate regions
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Populations from the three regions of Cupressus goveniana —north coast, Santa Cruz Mountains, and Monterey Peninsula—differ in foliage and seed characters and have been treated as varieties or species; additional interpopulational variation occurs within these regions. Trees from Santa Cruz Mountain populations may have originated through hybidization with C. sargentii (E. Zavarin et al. 1971). The pygmy forests of this species and Pinus contorta Douglas ex Loudon on the shallow hardpan soils of coastal terraces of the Mendocino white plains are a remarkable example of phenotypic plasticity.

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

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. FNA vol. 2. Author: James E. Eckenwalder.
Parent taxa Cupressaceae > Cupressus Cupressaceae
Sibling taxa
C. arizonica, C. bakeri, C. guadalupensis, C. macnabiana, C. macrocarpa, C. sargentii
Subordinate taxa
C. arizonica, C. bakeri, C. goveniana, C. guadalupensis var. forbesii, C. macnabiana, C. macrocarpa, C. sargentii
Synonyms C. abramsiana, C. goveniana var. abramsiana, C. goveniana var. pigmaea, C. pigmaea
Name authority Gordon: J. Hort. Soc. London 4: 295. (1849) 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).



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