Hesperocyparis lusitanica

(Mill.) Bartel

Common names

Mexican cypress, cedar of Goa, cedro blanco, cedro blanco del desierto, cedro, ciprés (Farjon 2005).

Taxonomic notes

Synonymy: see POWO (accessed 2023.12.16). See Hesperocyparis for a discussion of the relationship between this and other, closely related Hesperocyparis taxa in northwest Mexico and the adjacent Southwest U.S. Briefly, there is considerable doubt whether the populations of Hesperocyparis scattered from Sonora to Chiapas have been studied well enough to conclude that all can be assigned to the existing described species. Farjon (1993) analysed the problem and concluded that all specimens from south of about 22° latitude can be assigned to one of two taxa, which he called Cupressus lusitanica var. lusitanica and C. lusitanica var. benthamii, and which I here treat as Hesperocyparis lusitanica and H. benthamii. An analysis by Little (2006) also found differences between the two taxa on the basis of several different molecular genetic lines of evidence; however, the differences were very small.

There has long been debate about whether this taxon is indeed "Mexican." It has particularly rankled some Mexican and Central American botanists that Miller described the species from Portuguese material. However, there is strong evidence that the trees in question, which were planted in 1634 at Bussaco near Coimbra in Portugal, were in fact brought there from Mexico or Central America; indeed, there is no other New World source for Hesperocyparis at such an early date. Farjon (1993) summarizes the available evidence.

Callitropsis nootkatensis in cultivation has spontaneously hybridized with H. lusitanica. The hybrid is x Hesperotropsis ovensii; see POWO (accessed 2023.12.16) for synonymy.

Description

Trees 25-30 m tall. Crown broadly pyramidal, in older trees broad with pendulous branches. Bark thick, reddish-brown, with longitudinal fissures. Shoots quadrangular, pendulous, forming flattened foliage sprays. Foliage blue-green, four-ranked, ovate, closely pressed, usually with long, pointed apex. Cones globose, ca. 12 mm across, blue-green in the juvenile stage, turning dark brown when they ripen, then open and later fall, composed of 6-8 scales with a central strong, reflexed umbo, erect on the upper scales. Seeds about 75 to a cone, brown, with resin glands, about 4 mm long together with a narrow wing (Farjon 1993, Vidakovic 1991).

The easiest way to distinguish Hesperocyparis benthamii from H. lusitanica is that the latter species has irregularly arranged sprays of foliage (vs. flattened sprays in H. benthamii), and the crown, while often pyramidal in both species, is broader (vs. narrower in ;H. benthamii) (M. Socorro-Gonzales email 2019.04.30).

Distribution and Ecology

Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Mexico: Aguascalientes, Chiapas, Coahuila, Chihuahua, Colima?, Distrito Federal, Durango, Hidalgo, Jalisco, México, Michoacán, Morelos, Nayarit?, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Sonora?, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala?, Veracruz, Yucatan?, and Zacatecas? Occurs at altitudes of (450?-)1500-3500(-3990) m (Farjon 2005 and material from MEXU). It is widely introduced in Costa Rica (Merello 2004) and Nicaragua (Zanoni 2001). It often forms pure stands, or may be scottered in mixed stands of mixed conifer, pine, pine-oak, or mixed woodland composition. Common associates include Abies spp., Pinus ayacahuite, P. hartwegii, P. maximinoi, P. montezumae, P. patula, P. pseudostrobus, Pseudotsuga menziesii subsp. glauca, Juniperus spp., Quercus spp., Alnus spp., Clethra sp., and Persea sp. with ericaceous or theaceous shrubs. Typically on nutrient-poor carbonate or volcanic soils, often on rocky slopes or canyon cliffs (Farjon 2005).

Remarkable Specimens

Some trees in the mountains of Guatemala exceed 180 cm dbh and are nearly 60 m tall (F. Callahan email 2010.09.17).

Ethnobotany

This is commercially harvested as a timber tree in both Mexico and Guatemala and produces a fine, straight-grained lumber (F. Callahan email 2010.09.17). "In Costa Rica, Hesperocyparis lusitanica is the most popular Christmas tree. It also is very popular in the city parks and is often used as a living fence because of the very dense branches it develops" (Rafael Acuña e-mail 2006.11.01).

Zone 9 (cold hardiness limit between -6.6°C and -1.1°C) (Bannister and Neuner 2001).

Hesperocyparis lusitanica was one of the first New World conifers to be brought home to Europe, having been planted in Portugal since 1634 and in England since 1682 (but see Thuja occidentalis). It has since become the most horticulturally important of the tropical cypresses, widely introduced in South America, Africa, Asia and elsewhere. Today it is grown in some parts of Africa as a forest tree (Vidakovic 1991, Farjon 2005).

The species has not been used for dendrochronology. Dobry and Kyncl (1992) concluded that its "irregular wood formation" prevented dating of its growth rings.

Observations

It is a widely planted ornamental in Mexico. It grows as a significant component of the montane forest on the west slopes of Popocatepetl, mostly with Abies religiosa, where it can be seen in many places along the road up the mountain from Amecameca. Vladimir Dinets (e-mail 1999.08.11) reports that a small grove can be seen 1.6 km south of the Nicaragua-Costa Rica border, on the eastern side of the Pan American Highway.

Remarks

The epithet is from Lusitania, an old name for Portugal, where this species first came to the attention of botanists following its introduction from Mexico in the 17th century (Vidakovic 1991). It was so described in 1700 by Tournefort, and chosen as specific epithet by Miller when the species was formally described in 1768. Miller did not know the plant's country of origin and guessed that it might have come from Goa (in India), an error repeated in several important early conifer compilations, thereby firmly establishing the name "Cedar of Goa" in the horticultural trade (Farjon 1993).

Citations

Bartel 2009: described in Adams, R.P., J.A. Bartel and R.A. Price. 2009. A new genus, Hesperocyparis, for the cypresses of the western hemisphere. Phytologia 91(1):160-185.

Dobry, J. and J. Kyncl. 1992. Tree-ring density profiles in Cupressaceae. P.83-84 in T.S. Bartholin, B.E. Berglund, D. Eckstein, F.H. Schweingruber, and O. Eggertsson, eds., Tree Rings and Environment: Proceedings of the International Symposium, Ystad, South Sweden, 3-9 September 1990. Lundqua Report 34. Lund University Department of Quaternary Geology.

Farjon, Aljos. 1993. Nomenclature of the Mexican cypress or "cedar of Goa", Cupressus lusitanica Mill. (Cupressaceae). Taxon 42: 81-84.

Merello, M. 2004. Zamiaceae. In: Hammel, B.E., M.H. Grayum, C. Herrera and N. Zamora (eds.). Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 92.

Zanoni, T. 2001. Zamiaceae. In: Stevens, W.D., C. Ulloa, A. Pool and O.M. Montiel (eds.). Flora de Nicaragua Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 85.

See also

Elwes and Henry 1906-1913 at the Biodiversity Heritage Library. This series of volumes, privately printed, provides some of the most engaging descriptions of conifers ever published. Although they only treat species cultivated in the U.K. and Ireland, and the taxonomy is a bit dated, still these accounts are thorough, treating such topics as species description, range, varieties, exceptionally old or tall specimens, remarkable trees, and cultivation. Despite being over a century old, they are generally accurate, and are illustrated with some remarkable photographs and lithographs.

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

Martínez, M. 1947. Los Cupressos de Mexico. Anal. Inst. Biol. Mexico 18: 71-149.

Styles, B.T. and C.E. Hughes. 1983: Studies of variation in Central American pines III. Notes on the taxonomy and nomenclature of the pines and related gymnosperms in Honduras and adjacent Latin America republics. Brenesia 21: 269-291.