Cupressus abramsiana
Common name: 
Santa Cruz Cypress
Pronunciation: 
ku-PRES-us abram-si-A-na
Family: 
Cupressaceae
Genus: 
Cupressus
Synonyms: 
Cupressus goveniana var. abramsiana
Hesperocyparis abramsiana
Type: 
Conifer
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
No
  • Evergreen conifer tree to 15-20 ft (~5-6 m) tall, gray bark fibrous, thin, broken in thick vertical strips or plates.  Branchlets cylindrical to slightly 4-sided, leaves scale-like 1-2 mm long, bright green.  Pollen cones only 3-4 mm long; seed cones about 1.5–-3 cm long, more or less spherical or elliptical, brown.  Seeds 3-–5 mm, dull brown, glaucous or not, rough.
  • Sun
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 8   A rare tree native to the San Francisco Bay Area; more specifically on or near a few sandstone outcrops of the Santa Cruz Mountains at 1500-2600 ft (450-800 m).
  • Now often listed as a variety of the Gowen Cypress (Cupressus goveniana), i.e., C. goveniana var. abramsiana.  Apparently it can be distinguished from other varieties of Gowen Cypress by its large cones, 15-30 mm in diameter, and by its brown and often glaucous seeds (The Gymnosperm Database).
  • abramsiana: named by C.B. Wolf in 1948 to honor LeRoy Abrams (1874-1956), a professor of botany at Stanford University, who collected plants and published several books on California and PNW flora.
  • Santa Cruz, California: U.C. Santa Cruz Arboretum
Click image to enlarge
  • plant habit

    plant habit

  • branches

    branches

  • branchlets, leaves

    branchlets, leaves

  • cones, closed and open

    cones, closed and open