Chamaecyparis
Encyclopedia
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.
They are medium-sized to large evergreen
tree
s growing from 20-70 m tall, with foliage in flat sprays. The leaves
are of two types, needle-like juvenile leaves on young seedlings up to a year old, and scale-like adult leaves. The cones
are globose to oval, with 8-14 scales arranged in opposite decussate pairs; each scale bears 2-4 small seed
s.
There are five or six living species, depending on taxonomic opinion:
C. taiwanensis is treated by many authors as a variety of C. obtusa (as C. obtusa var. formosana).
There are also several species described from the fossil record
including:
Another species which used to be included in this genus, as Chamaecyparis nootkatensis, has now been transferred on the basis of strong genetic and morphological evidence to the separate genus Callitropsis
as Callitropsis nootkatensis
, or back to Cupressus nootkatensis (the name it was originally described under in 1824).
Chamaecyparis species are used as food plants by the larva
of some Lepidoptera
species including Juniper Pug
and Pine Beauty
.
; several hundred cultivar
s have been selected for various traits, including dwarf size, yellow, blue, silvery or variegated foliage, permanent retention of juvenile leaves, and thread-like shoots with reduced branching. In some areas, cultivation is limited by Phytophthora
root rot diseases, with C. lawsoniana being particularly susceptible to P. lateralis.
The wood
is scented, and is highly valued, particularly in Japan, where it is used for temple construction.
Pinophyta
The conifers, division Pinophyta, also known as division Coniferophyta or Coniferae, are one of 13 or 14 division level taxa within the Kingdom Plantae. Pinophytes are gymnosperms. They are cone-bearing seed plants with vascular tissue; all extant conifers are woody plants, the great majority being...
in the cypress family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Cupressaceae
Cupressaceae
The Cupressaceae or cypress family is a conifer family with worldwide distribution. The family includes 27 to 30 genera , which include the junipers and redwoods, with about 130-140 species in total. They are monoecious, subdioecious or dioecious trees and shrubs from 1-116 m tall...
, native to eastern Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and western and eastern North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. 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)
Cypress
Cypress is the name applied to many plants in the cypress family Cupressaceae, which is a conifer of northern temperate regions. Most cypress species are trees, while a few are shrubs...
. Synonyms include Retinispora Siebold & Zucc. and Retinospora Carr. The name is derived from the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
khamai, meaning ground, and kuparissos for cypress.
They are medium-sized to large evergreen
Evergreen
In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...
tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
s growing from 20-70 m tall, with foliage in flat sprays. The leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
are of two types, needle-like juvenile leaves on young seedlings up to a year old, and scale-like adult leaves. The cones
Conifer cone
A cone is an organ on plants in the division Pinophyta that contains the reproductive structures. The familiar woody cone is the female cone, which produces seeds. The male cones, which produce pollen, are usually herbaceous and much less conspicuous even at full maturity...
are globose to oval, with 8-14 scales arranged in opposite decussate pairs; each scale bears 2-4 small seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
s.
There are five or six living species, depending on taxonomic opinion:
- Chamaecyparis formosensis. Taiwan.
- Chamaecyparis lawsonianaChamaecyparis lawsonianaChamaecyparis lawsoniana is a cypress in the genus Chamaecyparis, family Cupressaceae, known by the name Lawson's Cypress in the horticultural trade, or Port Orford-cedar in its native range . C...
. Western North America. - Chamaecyparis obtusaChamaecyparis obtusaChamaecyparis obtusa is a species of cypress native to central Japan.It is a slow-growing tree which grows to 35 m tall with a trunk up to 1 m in diameter. The bark is dark red-brown...
. Japan. - Chamaecyparis pisiferaChamaecyparis pisiferaChamaecyparis pisifera Chamaecyparis pisifera Chamaecyparis pisifera (Sawara Cypress or Sawara is a species of false cypress, native to central and southern Japan, on the islands of Honshū and Kyūshū....
. Japan. - Chamaecyparis taiwanensisChamaecyparis taiwanensisChamaecyparis taiwanensis is a species of cypress, native to the mountains of Taiwan, where it grows at altitudes of 1300–2800 m.-Description:...
. Taiwan. - Chamaecyparis thyoidesChamaecyparis thyoidesChamaecyparis thyoides , is a species of Chamaecyparis, native to the Atlantic coast of North America from Maine south to Georgia, with a disjunct population on the Mexican Gulf coast from Florida to Mississippi...
. Eastern North America.
C. taiwanensis is treated by many authors as a variety of C. obtusa (as C. obtusa var. formosana).
There are also several species described from the fossil record
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
including:
- †Chamaecyparis eurekaChamaecyparis eurekaChamaecyparis eureka is an extinct species of conifer in the family Cupressaceae. It is known from fossil foliage found in the Buchanan Lake Formation deposits, dated to the middle Eocene Lutetian stage , from western Axel Heiberg Island, located in the Arctic Ocean in the Qikiqtaaluk Region,...
Middle EoceneEoceneThe Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...
, Axel Heiberg IslandAxel Heiberg IslandAxel Heiberg Island is an island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. Located in the Arctic Ocean, it is the 31st largest island in the world and Canada's seventh largest island. According to Statistics Canada, it has an area of ....
, Canada. - †Chamaecyparis linguaefolia Early-Middle OligoceneOligoceneThe Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 34 million to 23 million years before the present . As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the period are slightly...
, ColoradoColoradoColorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, USA
Another species which used to be included in this genus, as Chamaecyparis nootkatensis, has now been transferred on the basis of strong genetic and morphological evidence to the separate genus Callitropsis
Callitropsis
Callitropsis is a genus of cypresses in the family Cupressaceae, with several native to North America and one native to Vietnam in southeast Asia....
as Callitropsis nootkatensis
Callitropsis nootkatensis
Nootka Cypress , formerly Cupressus nootkatensis, Xanthocyparis nootkatensis or Chamaecyparis nootkatensis, is a cypress with a chequered taxonomic and nomenclatural history. This species goes by many common names including Nootka Cypress, Yellow Cypress, and Alaska Cypress...
, or back to Cupressus nootkatensis (the name it was originally described under in 1824).
Chamaecyparis species are used as food plants by the larva
Larva
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...
of some Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...
species including Juniper Pug
Juniper Pug
The Juniper Pug or Juniper Looper is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found throughout the Palearctic and Nearctic regions and the Near East....
and Pine Beauty
Pine Beauty
The Pine Beauty is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is a common species of pine woods in Europe.The forewings are typically rich orange brown, but sometimes are dark grey, with two large pale stigmata and fine streaks along the termen. The hindwings are brown or blackish. The wingspan is 32-40 mm...
.
Cultivation and uses
Four species (C. lawsoniana, C. obtusa, C. pisifera, and C. thyoides) are of considerable importance as ornamental trees in horticultureHorticulture
Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...
; several hundred cultivar
Cultivar
A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...
s have been selected for various traits, including dwarf size, yellow, blue, silvery or variegated foliage, permanent retention of juvenile leaves, and thread-like shoots with reduced branching. In some areas, cultivation is limited by Phytophthora
Phytophthora
Phytophthora is a genus of plant-damaging Oomycetes , whose member species are capable of causing enormous economic losses on crops worldwide, as well as environmental damage in natural ecosystems. The genus was first described by Heinrich Anton de Bary in 1875...
root rot diseases, with C. lawsoniana being particularly susceptible to P. lateralis.
The wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
is scented, and is highly valued, particularly in Japan, where it is used for temple construction.