Cypress is a common name for various

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 ...

ous trees or shrubs of northern temperate regions that belong to the family

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 ...

. The word ''cypress'' is derived from Old French ''cipres'', which was imported from Latin ''cypressus'', the latinisation of the Greek κυπάρισσος ('' kyparissos''). Cypress trees are a large classification of conifers, encompassing the trees and shrubs from the cypress family (Cupressaceae) and many others with the word “cypress” in their common name. Many cypress trees have needle-like, evergreen foliage and acorn-like seed cones.

Species

Species that are commonly known as cypresses include: Most prominently: *Cypress (multiple species within the genus ''

Cupressus ''Cupressus'' is one of several genera of evergreen conifers within the family Cupressaceae that have the common name cypress; for the others, see cypress. It is considered a polyphyletic group. Based on genetic and morphological analysis, the ge ...

'') Otherwise: *African cypress ('' Widdringtonia'' species), native to Southern Africa *Bald, Pond, and Montezuma cypresses ('' Taxodium'' species), native to North America *Chinese swamp cypress ('' Glyptostrobus pensilis''), Vietnam, critically endangered *Cordilleran cypress (''

Austrocedrus chilensis ''Austrocedrus'' is a genus of conifer belonging to the cypress family ( Cupressaceae). It has only one species, ''Austrocedrus chilensis'', native to the Valdivian temperate rain forests and the adjacent drier steppe-forests of central-southern ...

''), native to Chile and Argentina *Cypress-pines (''

Actinostrobus ''Actinostrobus'' is a genus of coniferous trees in the Cupressaceae (cypress family). Common names include cypress, sandplain-cypress and cypress-pine, the last of these shared by the closely related genus '' Callitris''. Species There are th ...

'' species), southwestern Australia *Cypress-pines (''

Callitris ''Callitris'' is a genus of coniferous trees in the Cupressaceae (cypress family). There are 16 recognized species in the genus, of which 13 are native to Australia and the other three (''C. neocaledonica, C. sulcata'' and ''C. p ...

'' species), Australia and New Caledonia *False cypress (''

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 ...

'' species), Asia and North America. *Fujian cypress ('' Fokienia hodginsii''), southeastern China *Guaitecas cypress ('' Pilgerodendron uviferum''), western Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego *Japanese cypress (''

Chamaecyparis obtusa ''Chamaecyparis obtusa'' (Japanese cypress, hinoki cypress or hinoki; ja, 檜 or , ) is a species of cypress native to central Japan in East Asia, and widely cultivated in the temperate northern hemisphere for its high-quality timber and orna ...

''), East Asia *Patagonian cypress (''

Fitzroya cupressoides ''Fitzroya'' is a monotypic genus in the cypress family. The single living species, ''Fitzroya cupressoides'', is a tall, long-lived conifer native to the Andes mountains and coastal of southern Chile, and only to the Andes mountains Argentina, ...

''), southern Chile and Argentina *Mediterranean cypress (''

Cupressus sempervirens ''Cupressus sempervirens'', the Mediterranean cypress (also known as Italian cypress, Tuscan cypress, Persian cypress, or pencil pine), is a species of cypress native to the eastern Mediterranean region, in northeast Libya, southern Albania, sou ...

''), famous for its longevity, popular garden plant *Monterey cypress (''

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 ...

''), native to the Monterey Peninsula, California *Nootka cypress (''

Cupressus 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 ...

''), native to the Pacific Northwest of North America *Siberian cypress ('' Microbiota decussata'') *Summer cypress ('' Bassia scoparia''), in the family Amaranthaceae *Western red cedar (''Thuja plicata''), native to North America. The family

also contains 13–16 other genera (not listed above) that do not bear ''cypress'' in their common names. File:Actinostrobos arenarius fruits murchison.JPG, ''Actinostrobus arenarius'' File:Austrocedrus chilensis por pabloendemico - 001.jpg, ''

'' File:Slender Cypress-pine.jpg, ''Callitris preissii'' File:Chamaecyparis Pisifera bonsai.JPG, ''Chamaecyparis pisifera'', bonsai File:Lone Cypress Sunset.JPG, ''

'', Monterey Peninsula, California File:Nootka Cypress.jpg, ''

'' File:Flickr - lo.tangelini - i.jpg, ''

'' (Mediterranean Cypress), Tuscany, Italy File:Fokienia hodginsii - Kunming Botanical Garden - DSC03140.JPG, '' Fokienia hodginsii'' File:Fitzroya cupressoides (da Silvio Rossi).jpg, ''

'' File:Glyptostrobus pensilis 2007.06.28 10.10.35-p6280031.jpg, '' Glyptostrobus pensilis'' foliage File:Pilgerodendron uviferum.jpg, ''Pilgerodendron uviferum'' File:Taxodium ascendens in the Black Water, Okefenokee.jpg, ''Taxodium ascendens'', Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia (USA) File:Widdringtonia whytei Mulanje Malawi.jpg, ''Widdringtonia whytei'', Malawi

References

{{Plant common name Cupressaceae Symbols of Hades

Species

See also

References