Cupressus goveniana facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Cupressus goveniana |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Cupressus
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| Species: |
goveniana
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| Natural range of Hesperocyparis goveniana (sensu stricto) | |
| Synonyms | |
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Synonymy
Hesperocyparis goveniana (Gordon) Bartel, current botanical name.
Callitropsis goveniana (Gordon) D.P.Little Cupressus aromatica Gordon Cupressus attenuata Gordon Cupressus bourgeauii Gordon Cupressus californica Carrière Cupressus cornuta Carrière Cupressus goveniana Gordon Cupressus pigmaea (Lemmon) Sarg. Cupressus silbae B.Huang bis Hesperocyparis pigmaea (Lemmon) Bartel Juniperus aromatica Carrière Neocupressus goveniana (Gordon) de Laub. |
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Cupressus goveniana, now reclassified as Hesperocyparis goveniana, with the common names Californian cypress and Gowen cypress, is a species of cypress, that is endemic to California.
Distribution
The tree is endemic to the Monterey Peninsula in coastal Monterey County, located on the Central Coast of California, in the Western United States.
The tree is found in small, scattered populations, and not in large forests of its species. Hesperocyparis goveniana occurs with Hesperocyparis macrocarpa (Monterey cypress), in the two groves where the Monterey cypress occurs naturally, in Monterey County.
It is on the IUCN Red List of endangered species.
Description
Hesperocyparis goveniana is an evergreen tree with a conic to ovoid-conic crown, very variable in size, with mature trees of under 1 m (3 ft 3 in) on some sites, to 50 m (160 ft) tall in ideal conditions.
The foliage grows in dense sprays, dark green to somewhat yellow-green in color. The leaves are scale-like, 2–5 mm (0.08–0.20 in) long, and produced on rounded (not flattened) shoots.
The seed cones are globose to oblong, 11–22 mm (0.43–0.87 in) long, with 6 to 10 scales, green at first, maturing brown 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 mm (0.12–0.20 in) long, and release pollen in February/March.
Typically, cones of H. goveniana are smaller than those of H. macrocarpa.
Taxonomy
The varieties or subspecies, formerly included under Cupressus goveniana by some botanists, include:
- Cupressus goveniana var. goveniana — reclassified as Hesperocyparis goveniana.
- Monterey County, strictly coastal, within 3 km (1.9 mi) of the coast and below 200 m (660 ft) altitude. Foliage dark green, not rough, with leaf tips not spreading; cones globose.
- Cupressus goveniana var. pigmaea, reclassified as Hesperocyparis pygmaea — Mendocino cypress (vulnerable species).
- Mendocino and Sonoma counties, coastal, within 10 km (6.2 mi) of the coast and below 500 m (1,600 ft) altitude.
- Cupressus goveniana var. abramsiana, reclassified as Hesperocyparis abramsiana — Santa Cruz cypress (endangered species).
- Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties, in the Santa Cruz Mountains 10–20 km (6.2–12.4 mi) inland and at 300–760 m (980–2,490 ft) altitude. With yellow–green foliage slightly rough-textured from the acute and slightly spreading leaf tips; cones often oval.
