''Cupressus macnabiana'' (MacNab cypress or Shasta cypress) is a species of
cypress in western North America.
Distribution
''Cupressus macnabiana'' is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
to northern
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. ''Cupressus macnabiana'' is one of the most widely distributed of all the native California cypresses, found growing in
chaparral,
oak woodlands, and coniferous woodlands
habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
s along the inner northern
California Coast Ranges
The Coast Ranges of California span from Del Norte or Humboldt County, California, south to Santa Barbara County. The other three coastal California mountain ranges are the Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges and the Klamath Mountains.
P ...
and the foothills of the northern
Sierra Nevada. MacNab cypress is often associated with ultramafic soils.
[C. Michael Hogan. 2010]
Leather Oak, ''Quercus durata''. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and Environment
Washington DC
Description
''Cupressus macnabiana'' is an
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, whic ...
shrub or small
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
, (rarely to ) tall, with a spreading crown that is often broader than it is tall. The foliage is produced in dense, short flat sprays (unlike most other California cypresses, which do not have flattened sprays), bright glaucous gray-green, with a strong spicy-resinous scent. The
leaves are scale-like, 1–2 mm long with an acute apex, and a conspicuous white
resin
In polymer chemistry and materials science, resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. Resins are usually mixtures of organic compounds. This article focuses on n ...
gland on the center of the leaf. Young seedlings produce needle-like leaves up to 10 mm (0.4 inches) long in their first year.
[Flora of North America: ''Cupressus macnabiana'']
/ref>
The seed cones
A conifer cone (in formal botanical usage: strobilus, plural strobili) is a seed-bearing organ on gymnosperm plants. It is usually woody, ovoid to globular, including scales and bracts arranged around a central axis, especially in conifers an ...
are oblong-ovoid to cuboid, 15–25 mm long and 13–20 mm broad, with six (rarely four or eight) scales, each scale bearing a prominent umbo; they are strongly serotinous, not opening to release the seeds until the parent tree is killed by wildfire
A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...
. This enables heavy seed release to colonize the bare, fire-cleared ground. The pollen cones are 3–4 mm long, and release their pollen in the fall.
See also
*California interior chaparral and woodlands
The California interior chaparral and woodlands ecoregion covers in an elliptical ring around the California Central Valley. It occurs on hills and mountains ranging from to . It is part of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, ...
- (''subecoregion'')
*Fire ecology
Fire ecology is a scientific discipline concerned with natural processes involving fire in an ecosystem and the ecological effects, the interactions between fire and the abiotic and biotic components of an ecosystem, and the role as an ecosystem ...
References
*
*
*Wolf, C. B. & Wagener, W. E. (1948). The New World cypresses. El Aliso 1: 195-205.
External links
Gymnosperm Database: ''Cupressus macnabiana''Jepson Flora Project: ''Cupressus macnabiana''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1144379
macnabiana
Endemic flora of California
Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States)
Trees of the Southwestern United States
Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands
Natural history of the California Coast Ranges
Plants described in 1855