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Santa Cruz Cypress

Hesperocyparis abramsiana

Santa Cruz Cypress
Photo: John Rusk from Berkeley, CA, United States of America, CC BY 2.0
Family
Cupressaceae (Cypress family)
Grows as
Tree
Native range
California (San Mateo Co., Santa Cruz Mts.)
Climate
temperate

About

Hesperocyparis abramsiana, the Santa Cruz cypress, is a species of coniferous tree in the cypress family. The species is endemic to the Santa Cruz Mountains within the Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties of west-central California. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the species on the Endangered Species Act in 1987 due to increasing threats from habitat loss and disruption of natural forest fire regimes. In 2016, the conservation status of the Santa Cruz cypress changed to Threatened. The cited reasoning was a decrease in threats against their habitat.

Where it grows

This species grows only in a 16 km2 (6.2 mi2 or 3954 acres) stretch of land in California. Within this range are five different localities with stands of the trees. The range covers parts of the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties. Historically, the populations had a much larger range, covering at least 76 km2 (30 mi2 or 19,200 acres). The estimated total population is less than 300 individuals, but abundance varies between localities. Some stands of the cypress only have a few individuals left.

Other Cupressus plants

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 abramsiana by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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