Cupressaceae
(Cypress Family)
Habit
-
resinous,
monoecious or
dioecious trees
Leaves
- usually
scale-like on mature plants, usually
decussate (opp. in
4 ranks, with successive pairs at right angles)
Female cones
- woody and
dehiscent or
berry-like and
indehiscent;
scales opposite or in
whorls of 3
Pollen
- without
air-bladders
Sperm
- delivered as
nuclei;
non-motile
Seeds
- usually several per
scale;
unwinged
Embryo
- with 2
cotyledons
Diversity
- 28 genera / 120 species
Distribution
- cosmopolitan distribution
Economics
- important timbers; resins, flavorings, and cultivated ornamentals
Must know genera:
-
- Juniper (sometimes incorrectly called cedar): 50 spp./N. Hemisphere--5 spp. in Arizona; leaves mostly scale-like; female cones with 3-8 fleshy scales becoming berry-like and bird-dispersed; seeds hard and unwinged; utilized for wood, cultivat
ed ornamentals, flavourings (cones of J. communis flavor gin). (reviewed in Phytologia M. 7:31. 1984)
- Cupressus (Cypress): 13 spp./N. Hemisphere--2 spp. in Arizona; leaves .....; female cones woody with peltate scales; seeds maturing in 2 years; old world spp. used for sarcophagi of Egyptians and infusion as foot-bath used to combat smelly feet (still used to scent soaps).
Others:
-
- Calocedrus (Incense-cedar)...
- Chamaecyparis (Oregon Cedar)...
- Thuja (Western Red Cedar)...
- Genera originally in Cupressaceae, now treated as the distinct family Taxodiaceae:
- Metasequoia (Dawn redwood)
- Taxodium (Bald-cypress)
- Sequoia (Coast redwood)
- Sequoiadendron (Sierra redwood)
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