''Cupressus forbesii'', now reclassified by some as ''Hesperocyparis forbesii'', Calflora: ''Hesperocyparis forbesii''
/ref> and with the common names Tecate cypress or Forbes' cypress, is a species of

cypress Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs of northern temperate regions that belong to the family Cupressaceae. The word ''cypress'' is derived from Old French ''cipres'', which was imported from Latin ''cypressus'', the ...

native to southwestern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Distribution

''Cupressus forbesii'' is native to montane chaparral and woodlands habitats in the western

Peninsular Ranges The Peninsular Ranges (also called the Lower California province) are a group of mountain ranges that stretch from Southern California to the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula; they are part of the North American Coast Ranges, which ...

. It grows at elevations of . The tree is found only in the

Santa Ana Mountains The Santa Ana Mountains are a short peninsular mountain range along the coast of Southern California in the United States. They extend for approximately southeast of the Los Angeles Basin largely along the border between Orange and Riverside co ...

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

and in San Diego County within Southern California, and in northern Baja California state of Mexico.Jepson Manual (TJM93)
/ref> The northernmost stand, in Orange County, which comprises a large area on the upper limits of Coal Canyon and on Sierra Peak in the Santa Ana Mountains, burned in a 2006 wildfire. Very few mature trees survived but regeneration is occurring by the hundreds to thousands. However another wildfire before trees are able to reach cone-producing age, which can be quite old for this species, could extirpate the stand.

Description

''Cupressus forbesii'' reaches , and is usually without dominant terminal shoot resulting in a multi-trunked tree. The foliage ranges from rich light green to green, and seed cones are dark brown, measuring 20–32 mm.

Taxonomy

''Cupressus forbesii'' has in the past been referred to as ''Cupressus guadalupensis'' var. ''forbesii''. This taxonomy has been somewhat controversial, as morphology and molecular testing have both shown ''

Cupressus guadalupensis ''Cupressus guadalupensis'', the Guadalupe cypress, is a species of cypress from Guadalupe Island in the Pacific Ocean off western North America. Distribution The Guadalupe cypress, ''Cupressus guadalupensis'', is endemic to Mexico, found only ...

'' to be genetically distinct enough from ''Cupressus forbesii'' to warrant being placed in its own species. ''Cupressus guadalupensis'' is endemic to Guadalupe Island off Baja California, two hundred fifty miles away from any ''C. forbesii'' stands. Molecular testing has shown ''Cupressus guadalupensis'' to be slightly more closely related to '' Cupressus stephensonii''. Major differences between Tecate cypress (''Cupressus forbesii'') and Guadalupe cypress (''Cupressus guadalupensis'') are: *Guadalupe cypress, when mature, makes a much more massive and taller tree than Tecate cypress. *Guadalupe cypress has glaucous, somewhat blue-tinted foliage, while Tecate cypress has very green foliage. *Guadalupe cypress cones will open without fire, while Tecate cypress cones differ from any other species of California Cypress, in that even once disconnected from the parent tree, they will not open without heat.

Ecology

The Tecate cypress is the only plant on which the rare Thorne's Hairstreak (''Callophrys gryneus thornei'') lays its

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

s.Lee, M
Rare Otay butterfly doesn't make 'endangered' list.
''

San Diego Union-Tribune ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...

'' February 22, 2011.

Cultivation

''Cupressus forbesii'' has proven to be a successful specimen tree, tolerant of the climate of Coastal California, and its cool temperatures and humidity, where other inland-growing

species: such as ''Cupressus macnabiana'' have done poorly in these conditions. A Tecate Cypress planted at the

San Francisco Botanical Garden The San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum (formerly Strybing Arboretum) is located in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Its 55 acres (22.3 ha) represents nearly 9,000 different kinds of plants from around the world, with p ...

is showing vigor and produces viable cones at forty years of age.

References

External links

Calflora Database: ''Hesperocyparis forbesii'' (Tecate cypress)
— ''current classification''.
Jepson eFlora (TJM2) treatment for ''Hesperocyparis forbesii''''Cupressus forbesii''/''Hesperocyparis forbesii'' — U.C. Photos Gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5194571 forbesii Flora of California Trees of Baja California Trees of the Southwestern United States Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges Natural history of San Diego County, California San Ysidro Mountains Plants described in 1922 Taxa named by Willis Linn Jepson Garden plants of North America Drought-tolerant trees Ornamental trees