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Northwest Conifers

Sargent Cypress – Hesperocyparis sargentii  Speaker

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Sargent Cypress at Hoyt Arboretum

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USGS Distribution Map

This rare cypress can reach a height of about 80 feet (25 meters) but often grows to be no higher than 30 feet (9 meters).

Leaves: The scaled leaves wrap around tiny branching twigs. The leaves usually don't have visible resin dots like Modoc cypress and MacNab cypress.

Cones: Up to 1" (2.5 cm), round with 6 or 8 scales and resin blisters. 

Bark: The brown bark is furrowed on large trunks.

Where it grows: This cypress grows in the coastal mountains of California. Several small trees were discovered at one location in Oregon, near Selma in an area burned in the 2002 Biscuit Fire (Tree on the map). See Cypress Species in Oregon by Frank Callahan.

Sargent cypress at Hoyt Arboretum

Names: Named after Charles Sargent, founding director of the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University.  Recently, Taxonomists removed North American cypresses from the Cupressus genus and placed them in a new genus, Hesperocyparis. For more information, see The Gymnosperm Database.

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© 2016 Ken Denniston