''Cupressus'' is one of several
genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
of
evergreen
In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...
conifer
Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...
s within the
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
Cupressaceae
Cupressaceae is a conifer family, the cypress family, with worldwide distribution. The family includes 27–30 genera (17 monotypic), which include the junipers and redwoods, with about 130–140 species in total. They are monoecious, subdio ...
that have the common name cypress; for the others, see
cypress
Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs of northern temperate regions that belong to the family Cupressaceae. The word ''cypress'' is derived from Old French ''cipres'', which was imported from Latin ''cypressus'', the ...
. It is considered a
polyphyletic
A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of converg ...
group. Based on genetic and morphological analysis, the genus ''Cupressus'' is found in the subfamily Cupressoideae. The common name "cypress" comes via the Old French ''cipres'' from the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''cyparissus'', which is the
latinisation of the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
κυπάρισσος (''kypárissos'').
Taxonomy
There has long been significant uncertainty about the New World members of ''Cupressus'', with several studies recovering them as forming a distinct clade from the Old World members. A 2021 molecular study found ''Cupressus'' to be the
sister genus to ''
Juniperus
Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arcti ...
'', whereas the western members (classified in ''
Callitropsis'' and ''
Hesperocyparis
''Hesperocyparis'' (western cypress) 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 ra ...
'') were found to be sister to ''
Xanthocyparis
''Xanthocyparis'' is a genus of cypresses in the family Cupressaceae. , it has only one species, ''Xanthocyparis vietnamensis'', native to Vietnam and southeast China. It is commonly known as the Vietnamese golden cypress. The Nootka cypress, ''C ...
''.
Description
They are
evergreen
In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...
trees or large
shrub
A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...
s, growing to 5–40 m tall. The leaves are scale-like, 2–6 mm long, arranged in opposite
decussate
Decussation is used in biological contexts to describe a crossing (due to the shape of the Roman numeral for ten, an uppercase 'X' (), ). In Latin anatomical terms, the form is used, e.g. .
Similarly, the anatomical term chiasma is named aft ...
pairs, and persist for three to five years. On young plants up to two years old, the leaves are needle-like and 5–15 mm long. The
cones
A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessarily, circular) to a point called the apex or vertex.
A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, or lines conn ...
are 8–40 mm long, globose or ovoid with four to 14 scales arranged in opposite decussate pairs; they are mature in 18–24 months from
pollination
Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by wind. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, birds ...
. The seeds are small, 4–7 mm long, with two narrow wings, one along each side of the seed.
Many of the species are adapted to forest fires, holding their seeds for many years in closed cones until the parent trees are killed by a fire; the seeds are then released to colonise the bare, burnt ground. In other species, the cones open at maturity to release the seeds.
Distribution
As currently treated, these cypresses are
native
Native may refer to:
People
* Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth
* Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory
** Native Americans (disambiguation)
In arts and entert ...
to scattered localities in mainly warm
temperate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...
regions in the Northern Hemisphere, including western North America, Central America, northwest Africa, the Middle East, the Himalayas, southern China and northern Vietnam. As with other
conifers
Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All extan ...
, extensive cultivation has led to a wide variety of forms, sizes and colours, that are grown in parks and gardens throughout the world.
Cultivation
Many species of cypress are grown as decorative trees in parks and, in Asia, around temples; in some areas, the native distribution is hard to discern due to extensive cultivation. A few species are grown for their timber, which can be very durable. The fast-growing hybrid
Leyland cypress
The Leyland cypress, ''Cupressus'' × ''leylandii'', often referred to simply as leylandii, is a fast-growing coniferous evergreen tree much used in horticulture, primarily for hedges and screens. Even on sites of relatively poor culture, plant ...
(''Cupressus'' × ''leylandii''), much used in gardens, draws one of its parents from this genus (''
Cupressus macrocarpa
''Hesperocyparis macrocarpa'' is a coniferous tree. It is commonly known as the Monterey cypress and is one of several species of cypress trees endemic to California.
The Monterey cypress is found naturally only on the Central Coast of Califor ...
'', Monterey cypress); the other parent, ''
Callitropsis nootkatensis
''Callitropsis nootkatensis'', formerly known as ''Cupressus nootkatensis'' ( syn. ''Xanthocyparis nootkatensis'') is a species of trees in the cypress family native to the coastal regions of northwestern North America. This species goes by many ...
'' (Nootka cypress), is also sometimes classified in this genus, or else in the separate genus ''
Xanthocyparis
''Xanthocyparis'' is a genus of cypresses in the family Cupressaceae. , it has only one species, ''Xanthocyparis vietnamensis'', native to Vietnam and southeast China. It is commonly known as the Vietnamese golden cypress. The Nootka cypress, ''C ...
'', but in the past more usually in ''
Chamaecyparis
''Chamaecyparis'', common names cypress or false cypress (to distinguish it from related cypresses), is a genus of conifers in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to eastern Asia (Japan and Taiwan) and to the western and eastern margins of th ...
''.
Cultural references
It was believed in the Hellenic culture that the cypress tree was sacred to the gods and it is now used as an emblem of grief.
The name of the genus comes from
Cyparissus
In Greek mythology, Cyparissus or Kyparissos (Ancient Greek: Κυπάρισσος, "cypress") was a boy beloved by Apollo or in some versions by other deities. In the best-known version of the story, the favorite companion of Cyparissus was a tam ...
, a young man loved by
Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
, very attached to a deer which he ended up killing by mistake during a hunting trip. To ease the pain Apollo transformed the boy into a plant.
The association with mourning continued in Roman times, up to the present day, also for a practical reason: the roots of the cypress are straight into the ground, and expand slightly laterally, not damaging the burials.
Species
The number of species recognised within this genus varies sharply, from 16 to 25 or more according to the authority followed, because most populations are small and isolated, and whether they should be accorded
specific
Specific may refer to:
* Specificity (disambiguation)
* Specific, a cure or therapy for a specific illness
Law
* Specific deterrence, focussed on an individual
* Specific finding, intermediate verdict used by a jury in determining the fina ...
,
subspecific or
varietal
A varietal wine is a wine made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label.The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2000.winepros.com.au. ...
rank is difficult to ascertain. Current tendencies are to reduce the number of recognised species; when a narrow species concept is adopted, the varieties indented in the list below may also be accepted as distinct species. See also the New World species (below) for a likely split in the genus in the future.
Old World species
The
Old World
The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...
cypresses tend to have cones with more scales (8–14 scales, rarely 6 in ''C. funebris''), each scale with a short broad ridge, not a spike. ''C. sempervirens'' is the type species of the genus, defining the name ''Cupressus''. They are more closely related to ''
Juniperus
Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arcti ...
'' than to the New World species, with the exception of the
Vietnamese golden cypress
''Xanthocyparis'' is a genus of cypresses in the family Cupressaceae. , it has only one species, ''Xanthocyparis vietnamensis'', native to Vietnam and southeast China. It is commonly known as the Vietnamese golden cypress. The Nootka cypress, ''C ...
, which is more closely related to New World species.
New World species
The New World cypresses tend to have cones with fewer scales (4-8 scales, rarely more in ''C. macrocarpa''), each scale with an often prominent narrow spike. Recent genetic evidence shows they are less closely related to the Old World cypresses than previously thought, being more closely related to ''
Xanthocyparis
''Xanthocyparis'' is a genus of cypresses in the family Cupressaceae. , it has only one species, ''Xanthocyparis vietnamensis'', native to Vietnam and southeast China. It is commonly known as the Vietnamese golden cypress. The Nootka cypress, ''C ...
'' than to the rest of ''Cupressus''. These species have recently been transferred to ''
Hesperocyparis
''Hesperocyparis'' (western cypress) 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 ra ...
'' and ''
Callitropsis''. New World species are found in marginal habitats with
xeric
Deserts and xeric shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Deserts and xeric (ancient Greek xērós, “dry") shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. Ecoregions in this h ...
soils, and therefore exhibit a fragmented
allopatric
Allopatric speciation () – also referred to as geographic speciation, vicariant speciation, or its earlier name the dumbbell model – is a mode of speciation that occurs when biological populations become geographically isolated from ...
pattern of distribution. This type of distribution results in disproportionate local abundance with most species restricted to small neighboring populations.
[Little, D. P. (2006). Evolution and circumscription of the true Cypresses. ''Syst. Bot''. 31 (3): 461-480.]
Allergenic potential
All plants in the genus ''Cupressus'', including New World ''Cupressus'' (now ''Callitropsis''), are extremely allergenic, and have an
OPALS
Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS) is a spacecraft communication instrument developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory that was tested on the International Space Station (ISS) from 18 April 2014 to 17 July 2014 to demonstrate the te ...
allergy scale rating of 10. In warm, Mediterranean climates, these plants release large quantities of pollen for approximately seven months each year.
References
*Farjon, A. (2005). ''Monograph of Cupressaceae and Sciadopitys''. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. .
*Gadek, P. A., Alpers, D. L., Heslewood, M. M., & Quinn, C. J. (2000). Relationships within Cupressaceae sensu lato: a combined morphological and molecular approach. ''American Journal of Botany'' 87: 1044–1057
Available online.
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Conifer genera