Cupressus arizonica

Common Names

Arizona or roughbark Arizona cypress (Peattie 1950), ciprés (Elmore & Janish 1976).

Taxonomic Notes

Syn.: C. benthamii Endl. var. arizonica (Greene) Mast. 1896 (Farjon 1998); C. arizonica Greene var. arizonica.

In the past, there has been considerable debate about the actual extent of this species (see the "Taxonomic notes" section of Cupressus for a discussion of the relationship between this and other, closely related Cupressus taxa in northwest Mexico and the adjacent Southwest U.S.). Little (1966, 1970) assigned Cupressus arizonica, C. glabra, C. montana, C. nevadensis and C. stephensonii status as varieties of C. arizonica, and Eckenwalder (1993)) did not even recognize the varieties, although all were again recognized in the comprehensive morphological analysis of Farjon (2005). However, each of these taxa has been described as a distinct species, having different distributions and consistent differences in morphology, chemistry, and molecular genetic characters (Wolf 1948, Little 1966, 1970, Silba 1981, Farjon 2005, Little et al. 2004, Little 2006). Certain authors have noted that the morphological differences between the species are for the most part related to their differing ecological settings (e.g., more waxy cuticles in the more desert-adapted groups, serotinous cones in populations experiencing frequent fire). However, the differences include certain cone characters, which are conventionally interpreted as taxonomically significant in the Cupressaceae; and the molecular genetic differences (Little et al. 2004, Little 2006) have no apparent relationship to ecological variability. It is thus appropriate to treat them as distinct taxa. They are here treated as species.

Description

"[T]ree up to 25 m high; bark gray to black-brown, furrowed; branches horizontally spreading; crown broadly conical; shoots short, thick, four-sided, spreading in all directions; foliage scale-like, mostly 2 mm long, acuminate, usually glaucous-green; resin gland on the dorsal side of the leaf not conspicuous or only slightly so; cones shortly petiolated, globose, 2-3 cm large, dark red-brown, bluish pruinose, composed of 6 to 8 scales with prominent dorsal processes; seeds 4-5 mm long, dark brown, occasionally bluish pruinose, cca 90-120 to a cone; cotyledons 4-5" (Vidakovic 1991).

Range

USA: Texas, New Mexico, SE Arizona; Mexico: Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas; at 1000 to 1500 m in the US, and up to 2200 m in Mexico (Vidakovic 1991, Farjon 1998).

Big Tree

Height 28 m, dbh 194 cm, crown spread 15 m, in the Santa Catalina Mountains of AZ (American Forests 2000).

Oldest

Dendrochronology

Has been used in one ecological study (Parker 1980), but no other applications are recorded.

Ethnobotany

Observations

Can be seen at several points along the Mt. Lemmon Highway, Santa Catalina Mountains, Arizona; most notably, in Seven Cataracts Canyon.

Remarks

Citations

Greene, E.L. 1882. New western plants. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 9(5): 64-65. http://www.cupressus.net/CUarizonicaGreene.html, courtesy of the Cupressus Conservation Project website.

Parker, A.J. 1980. The successional status of Cupressus arizonica. Great Basin Naturalist 40(3): 254-264.

See Also

Bisbee, Jeff. 2006. Photos at the Cupressus Conservation Project website.

Farjon (2005) provides a detailed account, with illustrations.