The Cupressaceae or cypress family is a conifer family with worldwide
distribution. The family includes 27–30 genera, which include the junipers and
redwoods, with about 130–140 species in total. They are monoecious, subdioecious
or dioecious trees and shrubs 1–116 metres tall. The bark of mature trees is
commonly orange- to red- brown and of stringy texture, often flaking or
peeling in vertical strips, but smooth, scaly or hard and square-cracked in some
species. The leaves are arranged either spirally,
in decussate pairs or in decussate whorls of 3 or 4, depending on the
genus. On young plants, the leaves are needle-like, becoming small and
scale-like on mature plants of many genera; some genera and species retain
needle-like leaves throughout their life. Old leaves are mostly not shed
individually, but in small sprays of foliage; exceptions are the leaves on
shoots, which develop into branches, which eventually fall off individually
when the bark starts to flake. Most are evergreen with the leaves persisting
2–10 years, but three genera are deciduous or include deciduous species.
The seed cones are either woody, leathery, or berry-like and fleshy, with
one to several ovules per scale. The bract scale and ovuliferous scale are
fused together except at the apex, where the bract scale is often visible as a
short spine on the ovuliferous scale. As with the foliage, the cone scales are
arranged spirally, decussate or whorled, depending on the genus. The seeds are
mostly small and somewhat flattened, with two narrow wings, one down each
side of the seed; rarely triangular in section with three wings; in some genera
one of the wings is significantly larger than the other, and in some others the
seed is larger and wingless. The seedlings usually have two cotyledons,
but in some species up to six. The pollen cones are more uniform in
structure across the family, 1–20 mm long, with the scales again arranged
spirally, decussate or whorled, depending on the genus; they may be
borne singly at the apex of a shoot, in the leaf axils, in dense clusters, or on
discrete long pendulous panicle-like shoots.
Cupressaceae is the most widely distributed conifer family, with a
near-global range in all continents except for Antarctica, stretching from
71° N in arctic Norway south to 55° S in southernmost Chile, while Juniperus
indica reaches 5200 m altitude in Tibet, the highest altitude reported for any
woody plant. Most habitats on land are occupied, with the exceptions of polar
tundra and tropical lowland rainforest; they are also rare in deserts, with only
a few species able to tolerate severe drought, notably Cupressus dupreziana in
the central Sahara. Despite the wide overall distribution, many genera and
species show very restricted relictual distributions, and many are endangered
species. Classification
The family Cupressaceae is now widely regarded as including the Taxodiaceae,
previously treated as a distinct family, but now shown not to differ from the
Cupressaceae in any consistent characteristics. The one exception in
the former Taxodiaceae is the genus Sciadopitys, which is genetically
distinct from the rest of the Cupressaceae, and is now treated in its
own family, Sciadopityaceae. The family Cupressaceae is divided into
seven subfamilies, based on genetic and morphological analysis:
A 2010 study of Actinostrobus and Callitris places the three species of
Actinostrobus within an expanded Callitris based on analysis of 42
morphological and anatomical characters. Superlatives
The family is notable for including the largest, tallest, and stoutest
individual trees in the world, and also the second longest lived species in the
world: Largest - Giant Sequoia, 1486.9 m³ trunk
volume Tallest - Coast Redwood, 115.55 m tall
Second stoutest - Montezuma Cypress or Ahuehuete, 11.42 m diameter
Second oldest - Alerce, 3622 years In addition to the above, many other
members of the family list among the tallest, most massive, stoutest and most
long-lived tree species in the world, including Taiwania, Sugi, Western
Redcedar, Incense Cedar, Tibetan Cypress, and Formosan Cypress among
others. Uses
Many of the species are important timber sources, especially in the genera
Calocedrus, Chamaecyparis, Cryptomeria, Cunninghamia, Cupressus, Sequoia,
Taxodium, and Thuja. These and several other genera are also important in
horticulture. Junipers are among the most important evergreen shrubs,
groundcovers and small evergreen trees, with hundreds of cultivars selected,
including plants with blue, grey, or yellow foliage. Chamaecyparis and Thuja
also provide hundreds of dwarf cultivars as well as trees, including Lawson's
cypress and the infamous hybrid Leyland cypress. Dawn redwood is widely planted
as an ornamental tree because of its excellent horticultural qualities, rapid
growth and status as a living fossil. Giant sequoia is a popular ornamental
tree and is occasionally grown for timber. Giant sequoia, Leyland cypress,
and Arizona cypress are grown to a small extent as Christmas trees.
Sugi is the national tree of Japan, and Ahuehuete the national tree of Mexico.
Coast redwood and giant sequoia were jointly designated the state tree of
California and are famous California tourist attractions. Redwood National
and State Parks and several parks including Giant Sequoia National
Monument protect almost half the remaining stands of Coast Redwoods and
Giant sequoias. Bald cypress is the state tree of Louisiana. Bald cypress,
often festooned with Spanish moss, of southern swamps are another tourist
attraction. They can be seen at Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida.
Bald cypress "knees" are often sold as knick knacks, made into lamps or carved
to make folk art. Monterey cypress is another famous picturesque tree often
visited by tourists and photographers. Baton Rouge, Louisiana was named after
the decay-resistant red wood of Juniperus virginiana, used by Native
Americans in the region for waymarking. Its heartwood is fragrant and used in
clothes chests, drawers and closets to repel moths. It is a source of juniper
oil used in perfumes and medicines. The wood is also used as long lasting
fenceposts and for bows. The fleshy cones of Juniperus communis are used to
flavour gin. Calocedrus decurrens is the main wood
used to make wooden pencils and is also used for cupboards and chests. Native
Americans and early European explorers used Thuja leaves as a cure for scurvy.
Distillation of Fokienia roots produces an essential oil used in medicine and
cosmetics. The pollen of many genera of
Cupressaceae is allergenic, causing major hay fever problems in areas where
they are abundant, most notably with sugi in Japan.
Several genera are an alternate host of Gymnosporangium rust, which damages
apples and other related trees in the subfamily Maloideae.
References and external links Farjon, A.. World Checklist and
Bibliography of Conifers. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 300 p. ISBN 1-900347-54-7.
Farjon, A.. Monograph of Cupressaceae and Sciadopitys. Royal Botanic Gardens,
Kew. ISBN 1-84246-068-4. Farjon, A., Hiep, N. T., Harder, D. K.,
Loc, P. K., & Averyanov, L.. A new genus and species in the Cupressaceae from
northern Vietnam, Xanthocyparis vietnamensis. Novon 12: 179–189.
Gadek, P. A., Alpers, D. L., Heslewood, M. M., & Quinn, C. J.. Relationships
within Cupressaceae sensu lato: a combined morphological and molecular
approach. American Journal of Botany 87: 1044–1057. Available online.
Little, D. P., Schwarzbach, A. E., Adams, R. P. & Hsieh, Chang-Fu.. The
circumscription and phylogenetic relationships of Callitropsis and the
newly described genus Xanthocyparis. American Journal of Botany 91:
1872–1881. Available online. Mao, K., Milne, R. I., Zhang, L., Peng,
Y., Liu, J., Thomas, P., Mill, R. R. and S. S. Renner.. Distribution of living
Cupressaceae reflects the breakup of Pangea. Proceedings of the National
Academy, USA 109(20): 7793-7798 -Open Access.
Arboretum de Villardebelle Cone images of many species
Gymnosperm Database: Cupressaceae Flora of China - Cupressaceae
Flora of North America - Cupressaceae