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Cupressus guadalupensis
Also called Guadalupe Cypress, Guadeloupe cypress, Forbes Cypress, Tecate Cypress
Guadalupe cypress is a medium-sized conifer endemic to Guadalupe Island off Baja California, Mexico, and it is endangered in the wild. It is cultivated mainly in California and Europe, and its key to growing is frost protection and good drainage in a mild climate.
Hesperocyparis guadalupensis, the Guadalupe cypress, is a species of conifer in the cypress family, Cupressaceae, endemic to Guadalupe Island in the Pacific Ocean off the western coast of Mexico's Baja Peninsula. It is a medium-sized tree with fine green to blue-green foliage. In its native habitat it depends on water from the fogs that envelop high ground in the northern half of the island.
It became an endangered species due to feral goats living on Guadalupe Island that – for more than a century – prevented new trees from growing. In 2005 the goats were finally removed from the tree's island home as part of an island restoration project. New trees are growing and other plants are beginning to recover, though the future of the species is not yet assured.
Though endangered in the wild, Guadalupe cypresses have long been cultivated in California and in other parts of the world. Though the exact date is not known, in the San Francisco area they were being grown before 1878. Though it has a long history of use in gardens and parks, it is not a commonly grown species in the United States. The scientist William Dallimore reported that it seldom produced cones in cultivation and similar reports continue to be repeated. However, trees grown in both Italy and France produce seed crops and are most often propagated from seeds, though they are also successfully grown from cuttings and grafting, including onto Cupressus sempervirens or Hesperocyparis glabra. It is a much more popular and common ornamental species in Europe than in America.
The trees have very little frost tolerance and are particularly noted as being sensitive to frosts in the spring. They are often reported as being limited to USDA Zone 9 or warmer, requiring a minimum low temperature of between −6.5 and −1 °C (20 and 30 °F).
The Guadalupe cypress, Hesperocyparis guadalupensis, is endemic to Mexico, only found naturally on Guadalupe Island in the Pacific Ocean west of Baja California. It is found growing at altitudes of 800–1,300 metres (2,600–4,300 ft). In the 21st century the cypress trees cover the greatest area of any tree community on the island, but only grow on the northwest of the island on a high plateau.
Moroccan Cypress · South Tibetan Cypress · Hesperocyparis bakeri · Bhutan Cypress · Cheng Cypress · Yunnan Cypress · Saharan Cypress · Hesperocyparis forbesii · Chinese Weeping Cypress · Tsangpo cypress · Hesperocyparis glabra · Hesperocyparis goveniana
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Hesperocyparis guadalupensis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
