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Cupressaceae

(Family)

Overview

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Trees or shrubs evergreen, monoecious or dioecious. Leaves decussate or in whorls of 3, scalelike and then often dimorphic with flattened facial leaves and keeled lateral leaves, or needlelike particularly in juvenile plants, often with an abaxial resin gland. Pollen cones terminal or axillary, solitary, maturing and shed annually; microsporophylls 6-16, decussate or whorled, each bearing (2 or) 3-6(-9) pollen sacs; pollen wingless. Seed cones usually terminal, solitary, globose, ovoid, or oblong, dehiscent or indehiscent when mature in 1st or 2nd(or 3rd) year; cone scales developing after ovules originate in bract axils; bracts almost completely enveloped by cone scales, free only at apex; ovules 1-numerous per bract axil, erect; cone scales of mature cones 3-16, flat or peltate, woody, leathery, or succulent, 1-20-seeded. Seeds winged or not; wings derived from seed coat. Cotyledons usually 2, rarely 3-6. Germination epigeal.

Nineteen genera and ca. 125 species: worldwide; eight genera (one introduced) and 46 species (16 endemic, 13 introduced) in China.[1]

Taxonomy

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The Family Cupressaceae is further organized into finer groupings including:

Genera

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Actinostrobus

Actinostrobus is a genus of coniferous trees in the Cupressaceae (cypress family). Common names include cypress, sandplain-cypress and cypress-pine, the last of these shared by the closely related genus Callitris. There are three species in the genus, all endemic to southwestern Western Australia: [more]

Arceuthos

[more]

Athrotaxis

Athrotaxis is a genus of two to three species (depending on taxonomic opinion) of conifers in the cypress family, Cupressaceae. The genus is endemic to western Tasmania, where they grow in high altitude temperate rainforests. [more]

Austrocedrus

Austrocedrus is a genus of conifer belonging to the cypress family Cupressaceae. It has only one species, Austrocedrus chilensis, native to the Valdivian temperate rain forests and the adjacent drier steppe-forests of central-southern Chile and western Argentina from 33?S to 44?S latitude. It is known in its native area as Cipr?s de la Cordillera or Cordilleran Cypress, and elsewhere by the scientific name as Austrocedrus, or sometimes as Chilean Incense-cedar or Chilean Cedar. The generic name means "southern cedar". [more]

Biota

[more]

Callitris

Callitris is a genus of coniferous trees in the Cupressaceae (cypress family). There are 15 species in the genus, of which 13 are native to Australia and the other two (C. neocaledonica, C. sulcata) native to New Caledonia. The most widely used common name is cypress-pine, a name shared by the closely related genus Actinostrobus. [more]

Callitropsis

Callitropsis (synonym Xanthocyparis) is a genus of cypresses in the family Cupressaceae, with several native to North America and one native to Vietnam in southeast Asia. [more]

Calocedrus

Calocedrus is a genus of two to three species of coniferous trees in the cypress family Cupressaceae; the common name is Incense-cedar. The genus is related to the genus Thuja, and has similar overlapping scale-leaves. Calocedrus differs from Thuja in the scale leaves being in apparent whorls of four (actually opposite decussate pairs like Thuja, but not evenly spaced apart as in Thuja, instead with the successive pairs closely then distantly spaced), and in the cones having just 2-3 pairs of moderately thin, erect scales, rather than 4-6 pairs of very thin scales in Thuja. The generic name means "beautiful cedar". [more]

Chamaecyparis

Chamaecyparis is a genus of conifers in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to eastern Asia and western and eastern North America. In the nursery trade it is often incorrectly known as "false cypress" for lack of other common name, so as to distinguish it from other similar genera bearing cypress in their common names. See cypress (disambiguation). Synonyms include Retinispora Siebold & Zucc. and Retinospora Carr. The name is derived from the Greek khamai, meaning ground, and kuparissos for cypress. [more]

Chamaecytisus

Chamaecytisus is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the sub family Faboideae. It may be synonymous with Cytisus. [more]

Chamecyparis

[more]

Cryptomeria

Cryptomeria is a monotypic genus of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae formerly belonging to the family Taxodiaceae; it includes only one species, Cryptomeria japonica (syn.: Cupressus japonica L.f.). It is endemic to Japan, where it is known as Sugi (Japanese: ). The tree is often called Japanese Cedar in English, though the tree is not related to the cedars (Cedrus). [more]

Cunninghamia

The genus Cunninghamia is a genus of one or two species of evergreen coniferous trees in the cypress family Cupressaceae. They are native to China, Taiwan and northern Vietnam, where they may reach 50-55 m in height. [more]

Cupressinoxylon

Cupressocrinus

[more]

Cupressocyparis

[more]

Cupressus

The genus Cupressus is one of several genera within the family Cupressaceae that have the common name cypress; for the others, see cypress. It is considered a polyphyletic group. Based on genetic and morphological analysis, the Cupressus are found in the Cupressoideae subfamily (Gadek et al. 2000, Farjon 2005). [more]

Cuprocyparis

[more]

Cyparissias

[more]

Diselma

Diselma archeri (syn. Fitzroya archeri (Hook.f.) Benth. & Hook.) is a species of plant of the family Cupressaceae and the sole species in the genus Diselma. It is found in Tasmania, on the western coast ranges and Lake St. Clair, at an altitude ranging from 910-1220 m. [more]

Fitz-Roya

[more]

Fitzroya

Fitzroya is a monotypic genus in the cypress family. [more]

Fokienia

Trees evergreen, monoecious; branchlets arranged in a plane, flattened, prominently jointed. Leaves decussate, almost in whorls of 4, scalelike, dimorphic along branchlets: facial pairs closely appressed; lateral pairs boat-shaped, overlapping margins of facial pairs, with 2 white, depressed stomatal bands abaxially. Pollen cones with (6-) 10-12 microsporophylls each with 3 pollen sacs. Seed cones terminal on branchlets, solitary, subglobose, dehiscent when mature in 2nd year; cone scales 12-16, decussate, peltate, woody, fertile scales 2-ovulate; free bract apex a mucro. Seeds ovoid, with a prominent umbilicus and 2 apical, unequal wings. Cotyledons 2.[2] [more]

Fokieniopsis

Frenela

[more]

Glyptostrobus

Glyptostrobus, is a small genus of conifers in the family Cupressaceae. The sole living species, Glyptostrobus pensilis, is native to subtropical southeastern China, from Fujian west to southeast Yunnan, and also very locally in northern Vietnam and Borikhamxai Province of eastern Lao PDR near the Vietnam border . [more]

Juniperus

Junipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on taxonomic viewpoint, there are between 50-67 species of juniper, widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere, from the Arctic, south to tropical Africa in the Old World, and to the mountains of Central America. [more]

Leichhardtia

Leichhardtia is a genus of air-breathing freshwater snails, aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Planorbidae, the ram's horn snails. [more]

Libocedrus

Libocedrus is a genus of five species of coniferous trees in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to New Zealand and New Caledonia. The genus is closely related to the South American genera Pilgerodendron and Austrocedrus, and the New Guinean genus Papuacedrus, both of which are included within Libocedrus by some botanists; the four genera together form an example of the Antarctic flora distribution. These genera are rather similar to the Northern Hemisphere genera Calocedrus and Thuja: in earlier days, what is now Calocedrus was sometimes included in Libocedrus. They are much less closely related, as recently confirmed (Gadek et al. 2000). The generic name means "teardrop cedar", apparently referring to drops of resin. [more]

Mesocyparis

Metasequoia

Metasequoia (dawn redwood) is a fast-growing, deciduous tree, and the sole living species, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, is one of three species of conifers known as redwoods. It is native to the Sichuan-Hubei region of China. Although the least tall of the redwoods, it grows to at least 200 feet (60 meters) in height. Local villagers refer to the original tree from which most others derive as Shui-sa, or "water fir", which is part of a local shrine. Since that tree's rediscovery in 1944, the dawn redwood has become a popular ornamental. [more]

Microbiota

Microbiota is a of evergreen coniferous shrub in the cypress family Cupressaceae, containing only one species, Microbiota decussata. It is native to a limited area of the Sikhote-Alin mountains in Primorsky Krai in the Russian Far East. It was discovered in 1923 but political secrecy in the former Soviet Union prevented any knowledge of its existence outside the Soviet Union for about 50 years. It has never acquired a common English name, though Siberian Cypress has been proposed. [more]

Neocallitropsis

Neocallitropsis pancheri is a plant species of the family Cupressaceae and the sole species of the genus Neocallitropsis. It is endemic to New Caledonia, where it occurs in small, scattered population along rivers. [more]

Octoclinis

[more]

Oxycedrus

[more]

Pachylepis

[more]

Papuacedrus

Papuacedrus papuana is a species in the conifer family Cupressaceae, the sole species in the genus Papuacedrus. Some botanists do not consider this species as forming a distinct genus, but include it in the related genus Libocedrus. It is native to New Guinea and the eastern Moluccas. [more]

Parolinia

[more]

Pilgerodendron

Pilgerodendron is a genus of conifer belonging to the cypress family Cupressaceae. It has only one species, Pilgerodendron uviferum, and is endemic to the Valdivian temperate rain forests and Magellanic subpolar forests of southern Chile and southwestern Argentina. It grows from 40 to 55?S in Tierra del Fuego, where it is the southernmost conifer in the world. It is a member of subfamily Callitroideae, a group of distinct southern hemisphere genera associated with the Antarctic flora. [more]

Platycladus

Platycladus is a distinct genus of evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae, containing only one species, Platycladus orientalis, also known as Chinese Arborvitae or Biota. It is endemic to Northwestern China. It is also now naturalised as an introduced species elsewhere in Asia: eastward to Korea and Japan; southward to northern India; and westward to northern Iran. [more]

Retinispora

Chamaecyparis is a genus of conifers in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to eastern Asia and western and eastern North America. In the nursery trade it is often incorrectly known as "false cypress" for lack of other common name, so as to distinguish it from other similar genera bearing cypress in their common names. See cypress (disambiguation). Synonyms include Retinispora Siebold & Zucc. and Retinospora Carr. The name is derived from the Greek khamai, meaning ground, and kuparissos for cypress. [more]

Retinospora

Schubertia

[more]

Sequoia

Sequoia is a genus in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae), containing the single living species Sequoia sempervirens. Common names include Coast Redwood and California Redwood (it is one of three species of trees known as redwoods). It is an evergreen, long-lived, monoecious tree living for up to 2,200 years, and is the tallest tree in the world, reaching up to 115.5 m (379.1 ft) in height and 7 m (23 ft) diameter at the base. It is thought to be named after the Cherokee Indian leader, Sequoyah, though this is uncertain. [more]

Sequoiadendron

Sequoiadendron giganteum (giant sequoia, giant redwood, Sierra redwood, Sierran redwood, or Wellingtonia) is the sole living species in the genus Sequoiadendron, and one of three species of coniferous trees known as redwoods, classified in the family Cupressaceae in the subfamily Sequoioideae, together with Sequoia sempervirens (coast redwood) and Metasequoia glyptostroboides (dawn redwood). The common use of the name "sequoia" generally refers to Sequoiadendron, which occurs naturally only in groves on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. [more]

Taiwania

Taiwania (Taiwania cryptomerioides) is a large coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae, formerly listed in the segregate family Taxodiaceae. It is native to eastern Asia, growing in the mountains of central Taiwan, and locally in southwest China and adjoining Myanmar and northern Vietnam. It is endangered by illegal logging for its valuable wood in many areas. It is very likely that the range was more extensive in the past before extensive felling for the wood. [more]

Tassilicyparis

[more]

Taxodium

Trees deciduous or evergreen. Branchlets terete. Lateral roots commonly producing erect, irregularly conic to rounded "knees" in periodically flooded habitats. Leaves alternate, in 2 ranks or not. Adult leaves divergent to strongly appressed, linear or linear-lanceolate to deltate, generally flattened, free portion to ca. 17 mm; abaxial glands absent. Pollen cones with 10--20 sporophylls, each sporophyll with 2--10 pollen sacs. Seed cones maturing and shattering in 1 season, nearly globose; scales falling early, 5--10, valvate, ± peltate, thin and woody. Seeds (1--) 2 per scale, irregularly 3-angled, wingless; cotyledons 4--9. x = 11.[3] [more]

Tetraclinis

Tetraclinis (also called arar, araar or Sictus tree) is a genus of evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae, containing only one species, Tetraclinis articulata, also known as Sandarac or the Barbary thuja, endemic to the western Mediterranean region. It is native to northwestern Africa in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, with two small outlying populations on Malta, and near Cartagena in southeast Spain. It grows at relatively low altitudes in a hot, dry subtropical Mediterranean climate. [more]

Thuiaecarpus

[more]

Thuja

Thuja ( THEW-j?) is a genus of coniferous trees in the Cupressaceae (cypress family). There are five species in the genus, two native to North America and three native to eastern Asia. The genus is monophyletic and sister to Thujopsis. [more]

Thujopsis

Thujopsis (pronounced "Thuyopsis") is a conifer in the cypress family (Cupressaceae), the sole member of the genus being Thujopsis dolabrata. It is endemic to Japan, where it is named asunaro (????). It is similar to the closely related genus Thuja (Arborvitae), differing in the broader, thicker leaves and thick cones. Though some use false arborvitae, the species has never acquired a widely used English name, usually being known either by the Japanese name or by its genus name, Thujopsis; it is occasionally also compounded as Hiba Arborvitae due to its similarity to Thuja. [more]

Thuya

Widdringtonia

Widdringtonia is a genus of coniferous trees in the Cupressaceae (cypress family). There are four species, all native to southern Africa, where they are known in the past as "cedars" (to which they are not related) but are now known as African cypresses. [more]

Widdringtonites

X Cupressocyparis

Xanthocyparis

Callitropsis (synonym Xanthocyparis) is a genus of cypresses in the family Cupressaceae, with several native to North America and one native to Vietnam in southeast Asia. [more]

At least 21 species and subspecies belong to the Genus Xanthocyparis.

More info about the Genus Xanthocyparis may be found here.

Bibliography

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Footnotes

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  1. Liguo Fu, Yong-fu Yu, Robert P. Adams & Aljos Farjon "Cupressaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 4 Page 62. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.
  2. "Fokienia". in Flora of China Vol. 4 Page 69. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.
  3. Frank D. Watson "Taxodium". in Flora of North America Vol. 2. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org.

Sources

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Last Revised: August 24, 2012
2012/08/24 17:24:37