Monterey cypress
| Monterey cypress | ||||||||||||
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The "Lone Cypress" near Monterey , California ( Cupressus macrocarpa ) |
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| Cupressus macrocarpa | ||||||||||||
| Hartw. |
The Monterey cypress ( Cupressus macrocarpa , syn .: Cupressus lambertiana Carr. , Cupressus hartwegii Carr. , Hesperocyparis macrocarpa (Hartw.) Bartel ), also called large-fruited cypress , is an evergreen species of the genus of cypresses ( Cupressus ). It represents the largest of the California cypress species.
description
Habitus
The Monterey cypress is a medium-sized, evergreen tree that has a very variable shape as a result of the strong winds at the natural site. The dense crown is flat and broad. It reaches heights of growth of about 20 to 25 meters and chest height diameters of up to 60 centimeters, rarely 1 meter or more. Under ideal growing conditions in culture , the tree can grow to heights of up to 34 meters and a diameter of up to 3 meters at breast height. Young trees that are away from the coast grow straight and form a more or less conical crown. They are symmetrically branched. The branches are at an acute or right angle from the trunk and can straighten up in an arch. In places exposed to wind and spray, the Monterey cypress grows irregularly and takes on crooked and gnarled shapes.
Foliage
The scale-shaped and triangular leaves are between 2 and 10 millimeters long and 3 to 4 millimeters wide in young trees. In old trees they stand on top of each other like roof tiles and are only around 1 millimeter long. They are dark green in color and have a blunt or pointed apex . They are found in pairs on young twigs that are 8 to 15 millimeters long. Young grated leaves smell of lemon . Up to the age of one year, the seedlings have needle-like leaves 4 to 8 millimeters long.
bark
Strong trunks and branches from a diameter of 20 centimeters have an ash-gray, thick and fibrous bark that is furrowed on the surface. Branches under 20 centimeters have a strong brown colored bark . The light brown inner cow has a high resin content.
Flowers, cones and seeds
The Monterey cypress is single sexed ( monoecious ). The flowering period extends from February to March. The initially light green, later brown, male cones are 3 to 6 millimeters long and reach a diameter of 2 to 3 millimeters. They are at the end of short branches and are formed in large numbers. Each cone contains 6 to 10 pollen sacs. The female cones are in groups, rarely individually at the ends of short shoots. They consist of 8 to 12 seed scales and at the end of the first growing season they reach a diameter of 10 to 15 millimeters. Each cone scale forms a curved spike about 2 millimeters long in the middle. The cones take on a spherical to oval shape in the 2nd year. They are between 25 and 40 millimeters long and consist of 6 to 14 cone scales. They are green at first but turn brown when ripe. Each cone contains between 140 and 150 seeds. The dark brown seeds are irregularly shaped and between 5 and 6 millimeters wide and 2 to 3 millimeters thick. They have a conspicuous wing-like edge. The thousand grain weight is around 7.5 grams.
Chromosome number
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 22.
Wood
The color of the light yellowish-brown heartwood differs only slightly from the sapwood . The heartwood of slow-growing trees is heavy and has a fine structure. In fast-growing trees it is coarse-grained. The wood is a good construction timber but has only a low durability when it comes into contact with the ground. The bulk density is 0.40 g / cm³. It has a low resin content.
Distribution and location
The Monterey cypress is endemic to the central coastal region of California . Natural occurrences are only found in two small populations at Monterey and Carmel-by-the-Sea . Due to this small distribution area, the species is listed as "endangered" on the IUCN Red List . The two groves are protected by the Point Lobos State Reserve and the Del Monte Forest . The larger of the two populations is located in the Point Lobos State Reserve and is about 3 kilometers long and about 200 meters wide and used to consist of about 10,000 cypress trees, but most of them were felled by humans. It is artificially planted almost worldwide. Successful growing areas can be found in South and East Africa , New Zealand , Australia , Hawaii , Chile and Argentina .
The natural location is characterized by a maritime, mild and cloudy climate with almost always existing coastal fog. A large part of the natural stocks are so close to the coast that they are constantly exposed to the spray . It colonizes fresh and dry, nutrient-rich granite and weathered limestone soils. It does not tolerate waterlogging. The precipitation should not be less than 350 mm per year. The species is hardy down to a temperature of −12 ° C, in exceptional cases down to −15 ° C. Mixed stands are formed with the Monterey pine ( Pinus radiata ) and Cupressus goveniana .
use
The wood of the Monterey cypress is well suited as construction timber, but has little durability on contact with the ground. It has been cultivated as an ornamental tree both along the California coast and in other areas with similarly cool summers and mild winters (e.g., Great Britain , western Oregon, and New Zealand , where it became naturalized). It was first grown in Europe in 1838. On the Atlantic coast and occasionally on the Mediterranean coast of Europe, it is grown as a windbreak and in this function is difficult to replace on the sea coasts by other tree species. In New Zealand, where it is called Macrocarpa , it is often grown as a shade tree on farms, often in rows or "shadow belts". Because of the high budding force after pruning, Macrocarpa hedges are suitable for biomass production .
Diseases and pests
When planted in hot summer areas, the plant has been shown to be highly sensitive to cypress cancer - a disease caused by the fungus Seridium cardinale - and rarely survives for more than a few years. The cypress cancer first appeared in California in 1928 and has destroyed large parts of the native population. Only trees in the immediate vicinity of the coast were spared. However, this condition is not a problem in places with cool summers. Further fungal parasites are the species Phomopsis juniperovora and Pestalotia funera as well as the genus Corticium, which cause regional losses in the growing areas. The will of insect pests winder Epinotia subviridis , the driving Motte Argyresthia cupressella that Baumlaus Cinara cupressi and the bark beetle Phloeosinus aubei called.
Systematics
Varieties
Despite the small distribution area, a number of varieties can be distinguished :
- Cupressus macrocarpa var. Angulata Lemm. has elongated cones that consist of 10 to 16 scales.
- Cupressus macrocarpa var. Crippsii R.Sm. has silvery-white leaves.
- Cupressus macrocarpa var. Fastigiata (Carrière) Anon. has ascending branches
- Cupressus macrocarpa var. Lutea Webster has a tree canopy with yellow foliage.
- Cupressus macrocarpa f. pygmaea A.B. Jacks. is a dwarf form and grows as a compact shrub.
- Cupressus macrocarpa variegata Van Geert typical shape with variegated foliage.
hybrid
The Monterey cypress is one of the parents of the fast-growing hybrid Leyland cypress ( Cupressus × leylandii ), which is the result of a natural cross with the Nootka false cypress ( Callitropsis nootkatensis ). Unlike the Monterey cypress, it is less susceptible to the cypress cancer pathogen.
swell
- Christopher J. Earle: Cupressus macrocarpa. In: The Gymnosperm Database. May 22, 2011, accessed October 27, 2011 .
- Claudine Andreoli: Cupressus macrocarpa . In: Peter Schütt, Horst Weisgerber, Hans J. Schuck, Ulla Lang, Bernd Stimm, Andreas Roloff: Lexicon of Conifers. Distribution - Description - Ecology - Use; the great encyclopedia . Nikol, Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-933203-80-5 , p. 167-174 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Tropicos. [1]
- ^ Rafaël Govaerts (ed.): Cupressus. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved March 25, 2019.
Web links
- Cupressus macrocarpa in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2006. Posted by: Conifer Specialist Group, 1998. Retrieved on 9 May, 2006.