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Cupressus (From kuo to produce)
(from kuo, to produce, and parisos, equal; in reference to the symmetrical growth of C. sempervirens). Cypress. ORD. Coniferae. Very ornamental evergreen shrubs or trees. Flowers monoecious. Fruit globular, composed of peltate ligneous persistent scales, separating at maturity, to free the usually numerous slightly-winged seeds. Leaves minute, scale-like, imbricate, or linear-acute, spreading. Few of the whole genus are really hardy; the remainder are liable to be much damaged by severe frosts and fierce winds. In the South and West of England and Ireland, they, as a rule, thrive very well. Any common garden soil suits the hardy sorts, but they succeed best in a rather deep soil, and in a sheltered situation. They may be propagated either by cuttings or by seeds. The latter may be easily collected when the matured cones burst open in early spring, and should be sown in April, in a warm friable soil. The seedlings will appear before the end of May. After the first year's growth, the young plants should be transplanted into rows, and removed again every second year, with the view of causing their roots to become fibrous and bushy. Nurserymen are in the habit of shifting them into pots of increasing size.
C. californica (Californian). A synonym of C. Goveniana. C. cashmeriana (Cashmere). A synonym of C. torulosa. C. elegans (elegant). A synonym of C. Knightiana.
C. funebris (funereal).* l. yellowish-green, scale-like, closely appressed, imbricated. Branches horizontal when matured, becoming pendulous at their extremities, giving the whole tree a very graceful, weeping appearance. h. 50ft. North-east China. 1849. Half-hardy. SYN. C. pendula. (F. d. S. vi. 89.) C. glandulosa (glandular). A synonym of C. MacNabiana. C. glauca (grey). A synonym of C. lusitanica.
C. Goveniana (Gowen's).* fl., male catkins yellow, very numerously produced in spring. l. scale-like, closely imbricated, bright green. Branches spreading, with numerous, irregularly disposed, slender branchlets. h. 15ft. to 20ft. California, 1846. A dwarf shrub, having a dense habit. SYNS. C. californica and C. Hartwegii.
C. Hartwegii (Hartweg's). A synonym of C. Goveniana. C. Knightiana (Knight's).* A very rare tall tree, of elegant habit, described by Messrs. Veitch as "with drooping, feathery, and fern-like branchlets, and well distinguished by the glaucous, bluish hue of its foliage." It is the hardiest of Mexican Cypresses, but requires, in this country, a sheltered situation. h. 40ft. to 60ft. Mexico, 1838. SYNS. C. elegans and C. Lindleyana. C. Lambertiana (Lambert's). A synonym of C. macrocarpa. C. Lawsoniana. See Chamaecyparis Lawsoniana.
C. Lindleyi (Lindley's). A synonym of C. Knightiana. C. lusitanica (Portugal).* Cedar of Goa. l. imbricated in four rows, acute, keeled, glaucous, adpressed. Branches flexuose, spreading; branchlets numerous, incurved, scattered. h. 40ft. to 50ft. Goa, 1683. A very handsome low tree, but only half-hardy. SYN. C. glauca.
C. MacNabiana (MacNab's).* l. small, scale-like, arranged in four rows, deep green. Branches short, thickly set; branchlets numerous, rigid. h. 10ft. to 15ft. North California, 1853. A densely branched, hardy shrub, with a pyramidal outline. SYNS. C. glandulosa and C. nivalis. C. macrocarpa (large-fruited).* Monterey Cypress. l. very dark green, closely imbricated. Branches numerous, close set, horizontal, with the extremities ascending; secondary branches generally lateral and opposite. h. 50ft. to 60ft. South California, 1847. A hardy, medium-sized tree, of great beauty, and of extremely rapid growth. SYN. C. Lambertiana.
C. nepalensis (Nepaul). A synonym of C. torulosa.
C. nivalis (snowy). A synonym of C. MacNabiana.
C. pendula (pendulous). A synonym of C. funebris.
C. sempervirens (evergreen).* "This is the fastigiate or upright kind--a tall, tapering tree, with erect branches growing close to the trunk, and with frond-like branchlets covered with smooth, imbricated, yellowish-green leaves. The cones are about 1in. in diameter, and are generally produced in pairs." h. 6ft. to 100ft. South Europe, 1548. Hardy in the South of England, and probably in many other places in Britain. The following names have been applied by various authorities to forms of this species: horizontalis, indica. C. torulosa (twisted).* l. glaucous, appressed to the stem, thin, minute, very smooth, closely imbricated in four rows. Branches short, ascending, much ramified at their extremities; branchlets slender, short, twisted. h. 50ft. to 70ft. Himalayas, 1824. A very beautiful pyramidal, hardy, much-branched tree. SYNS. C. cashmeriana and C. nepalensis. The variety Corneyana is a low tree, with slender drooping branchlets, and comes extremely close to the type.