Saturday, January 23, 2010

Cypress Tree


Cypress is the name applied to many plants in the cypress family Cupressaceae, which is a conifer of northern temperate regions. Most cypress species are trees, while a few are shrubs. Most plants bearing the common name cypress are in the genera Cupressus and Chamaecyparis, but several other genera in the family also carry the name.

African Cypress (Widdringtonia species)
Bald, Pond, and Montezuma Cypresses (Taxodium species)
Chinese Swamp Cypress (Glyptostrobus pensilis)
Cordilleran Cypress (Austrocedrus chilensis)
Cypress (Callitropsis species)
Cypress (Cupressus species)
Cypress-pines (Actinostrobus species)
Cypress-pines (Callitris species)
"False" Cypress (Chamaecyparis species)
Fujian Cypress (Fokienia hodginsii)
Guaitecas Cypress (Pilgerodendron uviferum)
Patagonian Cypress (Fitzroya cupressoides)
Sargent Cypress (Cupressus sargentii)
Siberian Cypress (Microbiota decussata)

Inexplicably the Cupressaceae family also contains 13-16 other genera (not listed above) that as of yet do not bear cypress in their common names.
The word cypress is also used as a descriptor for the angiosperm vine in the bindweed family Convolvulaceae, known as the Cypress vine (Ipomoea quamoclit). The plant called "summer cypress" is Kochia scoparia (Amaranthaceae).
DNA analysis has shown that redwood trees are also in the cypress family.
Cypress trees can be used in the making of shingles. Joshua D. Brown, the first settler of Kerrville, Texas, made his living producing shingles from cypress growing along the Guadalupe River of the Texas Hill Country.(wikipedia.org)

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