- Cupressus nevadensis
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Cupressus nevadensis 
Conservation status Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae Division: Pinophyta Class: Pinopsida Order: Pinales Family: Cupressaceae Genus: Cupressus Species: C. nevadensis Binomial name Cupressus nevadensis
Jeps.Cupressus nevadensis, the Piute Cypress, is a species of cypress native to a small area in the western United States, located in California.
Contents
Distribution
Cupressus nevadensis grows in a restricted area of the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains in Kern County, California.
It is found in a large, almost pure cypress forest on soils of granitic origin at altitudes of 3,000-6000 ft. located 3 miles South of the town of Bodfish, California. It grows here with Pinus monophylla, Juniperus occidentalis, and Fremontodendron californicum. It is also known from no more than 8 other locales around the mountains of Lake Isabella; however these are much smaller, scattered stands compared to the Bodfish grove. [1] Like most California cypress, it is a pyrophyte, heavily reliant on wildfire for its regeneration.
Description
Cupressus nevadensis is a medium-sized evergreen tree with a conic crown, growing to heights of 10-25 m (exceptionally to 39 m), and a trunk diameter of up to 0.5 m (exceptionally to 1 m). The foliage grows in sparse, very fragrant, sprays varying from dull gray-green to glaucous blue-green in color. The leaves are scale-like, highly glandular, resinous and aromatic2-5 mm long, and produced on rounded (not flattened) shoots. [2]
The seed cones are globose to oblong, 25-55 mm long, with 6 or 8 (rarely 4 or 10) scales, green to brown at first, maturing gray or gray-brown about 20–24 months after pollination. The male cones are 3-5 mm long, and release pollen in February-March. [3]
The cones often remain closed for several years, only opening after the parent tree is killed in a wildfire, thereby allowing the seeds to colonize the bare ground exposed by the natural fire.
Conservation
Fire suppression policies of the past decades have severely limited reproduction of this fire dependent species. It is listed as a Vulnerable species. [4]
See also
References
- ^ http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_cpn.pl?21396 Jepson
- ^ http://www.pinetum.org/Photonevadensis.htm pinetum.org: Photos, trees
- ^ http://www.pinetum.org/cones/CUbakeri.jpg pinetum.org: Photos, cones
- ^ Conifer Specialist Group (2000). Cupressus nevadensis. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 05 May 2006. - Listed as Vulnerable (VU B1+2bcd v2.3)
External links
Categories:- IUCN Red List vulnerable species
- Cupressus
- Trees of California
- Trees of Oregon
- Flora of the Sierra Nevada region (U.S.)
- Flora of the Great Basin desert region
- Vulnerable flora of California
- Vulnerable flora of the United States
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