Scientific name: Cupressus sargentii Jepson 1909

Synonyms:Callitropsis sargentii (Jeps.) D.P.Little, Cupressus goveniana var. sargentii (Jeps.) A. Henry, Hesperocyparis sargentii (Jeps.) Bartel, Neocupressus sargentii (Jeps.) de Laub.

Common names:Sargent cypress

Description

Tree to 25(-45) m tall or shrubby and less than 10 m, with trunk to 1 m or more in diameter. Bark grayish brown to almost black, thick, fibrous, and furrowed, peeling in long, narrow strips. Crown variable, columnar to broadly conical, open to dense. Branchlets cylindrical or slightly four-sided, 1.5-2 mm thick, branching from all four rows of leaves. Scale leaves on branchlets 1.5-2 mm long, dull green, often with some waxiness, the margins smooth, usually with an inconspicuous, inactive, resin gland. Pollen cones 3-4(-5) mm long, about 2 mm wide, with (three to) five or six (to eight) pairs of pollen scales, each with three or four pollen sacs. Seed cones spherical, (1.5-)2-2.5(-3) cm long, brown or grayish brown at maturity, not waxy, with (two or) three or four (or five) pairs of seed scales, each with an inconspicuous to prominent conical point on the face, the surface also warty with resin pockets. Seeds 10-15 per scale, 4-6 mm long, with wings to 1(-2) mm wide, dark brown, often waxy. Cotyledons three or four (or five).

Coast rangers of California. Scrublands open pine-oak woodlands, and mixed conifer forests, usually on serpentine-derived soils; 200-1,100 m.

Conservation Status

Red List Category & Criteria: Vulnerable

(Although extending over a long distance and still abundant, the area of occupancy (AOO) is calculated with a grid of 4×4 km to fall within the threshold for Vulnerable (AOO = 704 km2, number of locations = 8-10). A continuing decline is inferred from the fact that fires will be either suppressed or too intense to benefit this species)

References

Farjon, A. (2010). A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Koninklijke Brill, Leiden.

Eckenwalder, J.E. (2009) Conifers of the World: The Complete Reference. Timber Press, Portland.

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Cambridge, UK /Gland, Switzerland