Widdringtonia schwarzii (Willowmore Cypress or Willowmore Cedar) is a species of Widdringtonia

Widdringtonia

Widdringtonia is a genus of coniferous trees in the Cupressaceae . The name was apparently Austrian botanist Stephan Endlicher's way of honouring an early expert on the coniferous forests of Spain, Capt. Samuel Edward Cook or Widdrington...

native to South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, where it is endemic to the Baviaanskloof and Kouga

Kouga

Kouga can refer to:* Kouga Local Municipality, a municipality in South Africa.* Kougaberge, a mountain range in South Africa.* Kouga River, a river in South Africa.* Kōga-ryū, a school of ninjutsu often written as Kouga....

 Mountains west of Port Elizabeth in Eastern Cape Province; it occurs on dry rocky slopes and crags at 600-1,200 m altitude. It is threatened by habitat loss, particularly by wildfire

Wildfire

A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...

.

It is a medium-sized 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...

 growing to 20-25 m (formerly known to 40 m) tall. 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 scale-like, 1.5 mm long and 1 mm broad on small shoots, up to 10 mm long on strong-growing shoots, and arranged in opposite decussate pairs. 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 rectangular, 2-3 cm long, with four scales. It is closely related to Widdringtonia cedarbergensis

Widdringtonia cedarbergensis

Widdringtonia cedarbergensis is a species of Widdringtonia native to South Africa, where it is endemic to the Cederberg Mountains northeast of Cape Town in Western Cape Province. It is threatened by habitat loss.It is a small evergreen tree growing to 5–7 m tall...

from Western Cape Province, being most easily distinguished by its larger seeds with a short seedwing.

It was formerly often called "Willowmore Cedar" but has been renamed Willowmore Cypress to better reflect its botanical relationships.