Cupressus (common namecypress) is one of severalgenera ofevergreenconifers within thefamilyCupressaceae; for the others, seecypress. It is considered apolyphyletic group. Based on genetic and morphological analysis, the genusCupressus is found in the subfamilyCupressoideae.[2][3] The common name "cypress" comes via the Old Frenchcipres from theLatincyparissus, which is thelatinisation of theGreek κυπάρισσος (kypárissos).[4] The name derives fromCyparissus, a mythological figure who was turned into a tree after killing astag.
As currently treated, these cypresses arenative plants in scattered localities in mainly warmtemperate climate regions in the Northern Hemisphere, including northwest Africa, the Middle East, the Himalayas, southern China and northern Vietnam.[1] As with otherconifers, extensive cultivation has led to a wide variety of forms, sizes and colours, that are grown in parks and gardens worldwide.[5]
Cypress areevergreen trees or largeshrubs, growing to 5–40 m (16–131 ft) tall, exceptionally up to 102 m tall (the second-tallest tree species on earth, afterSequoia sempervirens) inCupressus austrotibetica.[6] The leaves are scale-like, 2–6 mm long, arranged in oppositedecussate 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. Thecones are 8–40 mm long, globose or ovoid with 4 to 14 scales arranged in opposite decussate pairs; they are mature in 18–24 months frompollination. 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.
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 hybridLeyland cypress (Cupressus ×leylandii), much used in gardens, draws one of its parents from this genus (Cupressus macrocarpa, Monterey cypress); the other parent,Callitropsis nootkatensis (Nootka cypress), is also sometimes classified in this genus, or else in the separate genusXanthocyparis, but in the past more usually inChamaecyparis.
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 fromCyparissus, a young man loved byApollo, 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.
There has long been significant uncertainty about the New World members ofCupressus, with several studies recovering them as forming a distinct clade from the Old World members. A 2021 molecular study foundCupressus to be thesister genus toJuniperus, whereas the western members (classified inCallitropsis andHesperocyparis) were found to be sister toXanthocyparis.[7]
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 accordedspecific,subspecific orvarietal 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.
TheOld World cypresses tend to have cones with more scales (8–14 scales, rarely 6 inC. funebris), each scale with a short broad ridge, not a spike.C. sempervirens is the type species of the genus, defining the nameCupressus. They are more closely related toJuniperus than to the New World species, with the exception of theVietnamese golden cypress, which is more closely related to New World species.[8]
The New World cypresses tend to have cones with fewer scales (4–8 scales, rarely more inC. macrocarpa), each scale with an often prominent narrow spike. Recent genetic evidence[10] shows they are less closely related to the Old World cypresses than previously thought, being more closely related toXanthocyparis than to the rest ofCupressus. These species have recently been transferred toHesperocyparis andCallitropsis. New World species are found in marginal habitats withxeric soils, and therefore exhibit a fragmentedallopatric pattern of distribution. This type of distribution results in disproportionate local abundance with most species restricted to small neighboring populations.[11]
southwestern United States (Arizona, Utah, southwestern New Mexico, and southern California, with a few populations in southern Nevada and in theChisos Mountains of western Texas), and in Mexico (Coahuila, Nuevo León, Chihuahua, Sonora, Durango, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas and northern Baja California).
All plants in the genusCupressus, including New WorldCupressus (nowCallitropsis), are extremely allergenic, and have anOPALS allergy scale rating of 10. In warm, Mediterranean climates, these plants release large quantities of pollen for approximately seven months each year.[12]
^Farjon, A. (2005). Monograph of Cupressaceae and Sciadopitys. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.ISBN1-84246-068-4.
^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)
^κυπάρισσος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott,A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library
^Eckenwalder, James E. (2009).Conifers of the world: the complete reference. United Kingdom: Timber Press. p. 720.ISBN978-0881929744.
^Little, D. P., Schwarzbach, A. E., Adams, R. P. & Hsieh, Chang-Fu. 2004. The circumscription and phylogenetic relationships ofCallitropsis and the newly described genusXanthocyparis (Cupressaceae).American Journal of Botany 91 (11): 1872–1881.AbstractArchived 2010-06-21 at theWayback Machine
^Little, D. P. (2006). Evolution and circumscription of the true Cypresses.Syst. Bot. 31 (3): 461-480.
^Ogren, Thomas (2015).The Allergy-Fighting Garden. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press. p. 95.ISBN9781607744917.
Farjon, A. (2005).Monograph of Cupressaceae and Sciadopitys. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.ISBN1-84246-068-4.
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 onlineArchived 2009-09-29 at theWayback Machine.
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