Description
Chamaecyparis – False Cypress –
There are about 8 species of monoecious, evergreen, coniferous trees, in this genus. They occur in Eastern Asia and North America. They have flattened sprays of scale like, overlapping adult leaves, to 1/4″ long, and longer ovate to linear juvenile leaves to 3/8″ long, in gold, bluish, bronze and green. The spherical or angular female cones have 2,. Occasionally 3-5 seeds on each shield-like scale, and most ripen in the first autumn. The spherical or ovoid male cones, usually to 1/4″ long, are borne in spring. False cypresses are used as specimen trees and for hedging, they have given rise to a vast number of cultivars, many dwarf or slow growing, and suitable for rock gardens or bonsai. They can be fast growing if conditions are to their liken. Contact with the foliage may aggravate skin allergies.
Tolerant of alkaline soils but best grown in moist but well drained, preferably neutral to slightly acidic soil in full sun. Trim hedges from late spring to early autumn, but do not cut into older wood.
Prone to spruce mites, twig blight, root rot, and needle blight.
C. nootkatensis – Nootka Cypress – Alaska Cedar – Cupressus nootkatensis – Nortka False Cypress – This conical, occasionally columnar, coniferous tree found from Alaska to Oregon grows 100′ feet tall and 25′ feet wide. It has brown-gray bark, peeling into large plates. It has sharply pointed, free tipped, scale like, dark green mature leaves arranged in long, hanging branchlets. Green female cones, ½” long with recurved central hooks on each of the 4-6 scales, ripen in spring.Male cones are ovoid, brownish green, and 1/8″ long.
Grow in any well drained soil (including alkaline or acidic) in full sun. Shelter from cold, dry winds.
zone 4-8
