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Hesperocyparis lusitanica
	Hesperocyparis lusitanica in Jalisco, Mexico
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Gymnospermae
Division:	Pinophyta
Class:	Pinopsida
Order:	Cupressales
Family:	Cupressaceae
Genus:	Hesperocyparis
Species:	H. lusitanica
Binomial name
	Hesperocyparis lusitanica; (Mill.) Bartel
Synonyms
	List Callitropsis lusitanica (Mill.) D.P.Little (2006) ; Cupressus assamica Silba (1994) ; Cupressus benthamii var. lindleyi (Klotzsch ex Endl.) Mast. (1896) ; Cupressus coerulea J.Verschaff. (1887) ; Cupressus coerulea var. nana Van Geert (1864) ; Cupressus coulteri J.Forbes (1839) ; Cupressus excelsa J.Scott ex Carrière (1855) ; Cupressus glauca Lam. (1786) ; Cupressus glauca var. tristis Endl. (1847) ; Cupressus karwinskiana Regel (1857) ; Cupressus lindleyi Klotzsch ex Endl. (1847) ; Cupressus lindleyi var. alba J.Verschaff. (1887) ; Cupressus lindleyi subsp. hondurensis (Silba) Silba (2005) ; Cupressus lindleyi var. hondurensis (Silba) Silba (1994) ; Cupressus lusitanica Mill. (1768) ; Cupressus lusitanica var. typica Franco (1945) ; Cupressus mexicana K.Koch (1873) ; Cupressus pendula L'Hér. (1785) ; Cupressus sinensis J.Lee ex Gordon & Glend. (1858) ; Cupressus thurifera Lindl. (1839) ; Cupressus uhdeana Gordon ex Carrière (1855) ; Hesperocyparis lindleyi (Klotzsch ex Endl.) Silba (2009) ; Juniperus uhdeana Gordon (1850) ; Neocupressus lusitanica (Mill.) de Laub. (2009) ; ;

Hesperocyparis lusitanica, the Mexican cypress, cedar-of-Goa or Goa cedar, is a species of cypress native to Mexico and Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras). It has also been introduced to Belize, Costa Rica and Nicaragua, growing at 1,200–3,000 metres (3,900–9,800 ft) altitude.

The scientific name lusitanica (of Portugal) refers to its very early cultivation there, with plants imported from Mexico to the monastery at Buçaco, near Coimbra in Portugal in about 1634; these trees were already over 130 years old when the species was botanically described by Miller in 1768.

In Mexico, the tree is also known as cedro blanco (white cedar) or teotlate.

Description

Hesperocyparis lusitanica is an evergreen conifer tree with a conic to ovoid-conic crown, growing to 40 m tall. The foliage grows in dense sprays, dark green to somewhat yellow-green in colour. The leaves are scale-like, 2–5 mm long, and produced on rounded (not flattened) shoots. The seed cones are globose to oblong, 10–20 mm long, with four to 10 scales, green at first, maturing brown or grey-brown about 25 months after pollination.

The cones may either open at maturity to release the seeds, or remain closed for several years, only opening after the parent tree is killed in a wildfire, allowing the seeds to colonise the bare ground exposed by the fire. The male cones are 3–4 mm long, and release pollen in late Winter / Early Spring (February–March in the northern hemisphere). In most of its natural environment the rainfall occurs with more quantity in summer.

Taxonomy

Hesperocyparis lusitanica was given its first scientific name by the botanist Philip Miller who named it Cupressus lusitanica in 1768,^[2] because he described it from collections made in Portugal.^[3] The species has a large number of synonyms and the species Hesperocyparis benthamii has been treated as variety or subspecies of H. lusitanica.^[4] In 2009 a paper was published moving this species and most of the New World Cupressus to the new genus Hesperocyparis.^[2] As of 2024^[update] this is listed as the accepted species name with no subspecies or varieties by Plants of the World Online,^[2] World Flora Online,^[5] and the Gymnosperm Database.^[3]

Cultivation and uses

Fast-growing and drought tolerant, but only slightly frost tolerant, Hesperocyparis lusitanica has been introduced from Mexico to different parts of the world. It is widely cultivated, both as an ornamental tree and for timber production, in warm, temperate and subtropical regions around the world. Trees have not been selected for cultivation from northern Mexico populations, which have a heavy drought endurance.^[6]

Locations

Its cultivation and subsequent naturalisation in parts of southern Asia has caused a degree of confusion with native Cupressus species in that region; plants sold by nurseries under the names of Asian species such as Cupressus torulosa often prove to be this species.

It has been planted widely for commercial production: at high altitudes in Colombia (3,300 m, 10,800 ft), Bolivia, Ethiopia and South Africa, and near sea level throughout New Zealand. In Colombia trees are planted to form windbreak hedges and for preventing soil erosion on slopes. It has been planted by Tanzanian mountain farmers for soil preservation and commercial use since the 1990s.^[7]

It has been planted as an ornamental tree near sea level in temperate climates and has done very well in Portugal, Buenos Aires Province in Argentina; Austin, Texas and the British Isles where it can reach a height of 30 m (90 feet).

It is being planted in the Argentine province of San Luis,^[8] Argentina at 1,500 m (4,900 ft) above sea level to create artificial forests in a land originally lacking them in a very similar climate to that of its native habitat.

References

^ Farjon, A. (2013). "Cupressus lusitanica". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T42221A2962663. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42221A2962663.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Hesperocyparis lusitanica (Mill.) Bartel". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
^ ^a ^b Earle, Christopher J. (17 December 2023). "Hesperocyparis lusitanica (Mexican cypress) description". The Gymnosperm Database. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
^ "Hesperocyparis benthamii (Endl.) Bartel". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
^ "Hesperocyparis lusitanica (Mill.) Bartel". World Flora Online. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
^ Felger, Richard S.; Johnson, Matthew B.; Wilson, Michael F. (2001). The trees of Sonora, Mexico. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-512891-5.
^ UEDA Gen, The Regional System of the Mountain People: Place, Household, and the Communal in Rural Tanzania (Japanese language), Tohoku University Press, 2011, Sendai, Japan, pp.348 - 351. (上田元『山の民の地域システム　タンザニア農村の場所・世帯・共同性』、東北大学出版会、2011年)
^ "Mexican conifers in San Luis Province, Argentina".

Farjon, Aljos (2005). A monograph of Cupressaceae and Sciadopitys. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ISBN 978-1842460689.
Rzedowski, J. (1978). Vegetación de México. Distrito Federal, Mexico. ISBN 978-9681800024.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Dvorak, W. S.; Hodge, G. R.; Gutiérrez, E. A.; Osorio, L. F.; Malan, F. S.; Stanger., T. K. (2000). Conservation and Testing of Tropical and Subtropical Forest Species by the CAMCORE Cooperative. Raleigh: College of Natural Resources, North Carolina State University. ISBN 978-0620264600.
Martínez, Maximinio (1979). Catálogo de nombres vulgares y científicos de plantas mexicanas. Fondo de Cultura Económica. ISBN 978-9681600112.
Richardson, D.M., ed. (1998). Ecology and biogeography of Pinus. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521789103.
Chandler, N.G. (1957). "Pulpwood plantations in South Africa". Australian Forestry. 21 (1): 48–54. doi:10.1080/00049158.1957.10675339.
Gutiérrez, Millán; Ladrach, W. (1980). Resultados a tres años de la siembra directa de semillas de Cupressus lusitanica y Pinus patula en finca Los Guaduales Departamento del Cauca. Informe de Investigación 60. Cali, Colombia: Cartón de Colombia S.A.