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Cupressus lusitanica
Also called Mexican Cypress, Cedar of Goa, Arizona Cypress, Portuguese Cypress
Mexican cypress is a fast-growing conifer tree that reaches about 40 m and is grown as an ornamental and for timber in warm temperate and subtropical areas. It is drought tolerant but only slightly frost tolerant.
Hesperocyparis lusitanica, the Mexican cypress, cedar-of-Goa or Goa cedar, is a species of conifer in the cypress family, Cupressaceae, 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.
Fast-growing and drought tolerant, but only slightly frost tolerant, Hesperocyparis lusitanica has been introduced from Mexico to different parts of the world like New Zealand. 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.
Bhutan Cypress · Saharan Cypress · Hesperocyparis forbesii · Chinese Weeping Cypress · Leyland cypress · Hesperocyparis macrocarpa · Mediterranean Cypress · Arizona Cypress
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Hesperocyparis lusitanica 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.
