Arizona Cypress, Cupressus arizonica

About Arizona Cypress (Cupressus arizonica) 9 Nurseries Carry This Plant

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Cupressus arizonica, the Arizona Cypress, is a species of cypress native to the southwest of North America, in the United States in Arizona, southwest New Mexico, southern California, and the Chisos Mountains of west Texas, and in Mexico in Coahuila, Chihuahua, Durango, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas and northern Baja California. In the wild, the species is often found in small, scattered populations, not necessarily in large forests. An example occurrence is within the Sierra Jurez and San Pedro Mrtir pine-oak forests of Mexico, where it is found along with Canyon Live Oak and California Fan Palm. It is a medium-sized evergreen tree with a conic to ovoid-conic crown. It grows to heights of 10-25 meter, and its trunk diameter reaches 0.5 meter. The foliage grows in dense sprays, varying from dull gray-green to bright waxy pale blue-green in color. The leaves are scale-like, 2-5 millimeter long, and produced on rounded (not flattened) shoots. The seed cones are globose to oblong, 15-33 millimeter long, with 6 or 8 (rarely 4 or 10) scales, green at first, maturing gray or gray-brown about 20-24 months after pollination. The cones remain closed for many years, only opening after the parent tree is killed in a wildfire, thereby allowing the seeds to colonize the bare ground exposed by the fire. The male cones are 3-5 millimeter long, and release pollen in February-March.

Plant Description

Plant Type

Tree

Size

32.8 - 82 ft tall

Dormancy

Evergreen

Wildlife Supported

Butterflies & moths hosted ( 14 likely * ) SHOW ALL

Olive Hairstreak Callophrys gryneusCallophrys gryneus

White-lined Sphinx Hyles lineataHyles lineata

Fall Webworm Hyphantria cuneaHyphantria cunea

Orange Tortrix Moth Argyrotaenia franciscanaArgyrotaenia franciscana

Gloveria arizonensisGloveria arizonensis

Thorne's Hairstreak Callophrys lokiCallophrys loki

Cypress Tipminer Argyresthia cupressellaArgyresthia cupressella

Landscaping Information

Sun

Full Sun, Part Shade

Moisture

Very Low

Nurseries

Carried by 9

Ease of Care

Moderately Easy

Soil Drainage

Fast

Soil Description

Prefers coarse, well drained soil such as decomposed granite

Common uses

Bank Stabilization, Deer Resistant

Natural Setting

Climate

Annual Precipitation: 5.0" - 37.5", Summer Precipitation: 0.19" - 2.43", Coldest Month: 36.2" - 54.4", Hottest Month: 55.9" - 79.1", Humidity: 1.06" - 31.34", Elevation: 29" - 8378"

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Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links: Jepson eFlora Taxon Page CalPhotos Wikipedia Calflora

Arizona Cypress

Cupressus arizonica

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Arizona CypressCupressus arizonica

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Arizona Cypress

Cupressus arizonica