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Cupressus macrocarpa Pinaceae
Monterey Cypress ku-PRES-us mak-ro-KAR-pa
- Conifer, evergreen tree, grows to 40-80 ft (12-25 m) tall, narrow or broadly conical when young, broadly spreading with age, branchlets round, not in a single plane, outspread or nodding. Bark red-brown then gray, becoming furrowed with age. Leaves uniform, scale-like, about 2 mm long, up to 10 mm on vigorous shoot, rhombic, obtuse, in 4 tightly appressed rows, dark green. Cones globose or somewhat ellipsoid, 2.5-3.5 cm diameter, usually solitary, on a short, thick stalk.
- Sun. Susceptible to coryneum canker when grown inland away from cool coastal winds (Sunset Western Garden Book, 2001)
- Hardy to USDA Zone 7 Native to California's Monterey Peninsula along the central coast were only two native stands persist. The Lone Cypress at Cypress Point on the peninsula is one of the most photographed trees in California. It is widely planted as an ornamental and windbreak along the California coastline and grown in forest timberlands in South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.
- macrocarpa: macr, large or long; carpo, fruit; hence large-fruited.