Foliage, cone & seed [L.A. Vorobik] (4).
Common Names
Gowen cypress (1).Taxonomic notes
"Populations from the three regions of Cupressus goveniana - north coast, Santa Cruz Mountains, and Monterey Peninsula--differ in foliage and seed characters and have been treated as varieties or species; additional interpopulational variation occurs within these regions" (1). Three varieties are recognized here: the type (Monterey County), abramsiana (Santa Cruz mountains) and pigmaea (North Coast).Description
"Shrubs or small trees usually to 10 m, but to 50 m under favorable conditions, or bearing cones at as little as 2 dm on shallow hardpan soils; crown globose to columnar, dense or sparse. Bark smooth or rough, fibrous. Branchlets decussate, 1-1.5 mm diam. Leaves without abaxial gland or sometimes with embedded abaxial gland that does not produce drop of resin, not glaucous. Pollen cones 3-4 × 1.5-2 mm; pollen sacs 3-6. Seed cones globose, 1-2.5(-3) cm, grayish brown, not glaucous; scales 3-5 pairs, smooth, umbo nearly flat at maturity. Seeds 3-4(5) mm, dark brown to jet black, sometimes slightly glaucous" (1).Range
USA: California, at 60-800 m in coastal closed-cone pine forests, especially on sterile soils (1). The type variety is known from two groves in Monterey County, situated near the two groves of the closely related C. macrocarpa (2). See also (5).Big Tree
Oldest
Dendrochronology
Ethnobotany
Observations
Vladimir Dinets (6) tells me: "The trees are still present along Seventeen Mile drive in Carmel, but finding them among thousands of C. macrocarpa is time-consuming. The grove in Point Lobos is in upland portion of the preserve, not open for visitors, but a visit can be arranged with park administration. "Herbarium collections (3) have been made in the following locales: 1) In impoverished sandstone soil on the SW slope of Huckleberry Hill, Monterey Peninsula; 2) Cypress Point Pine Barrens, near a large water reservoir back of Seventeen Mile Drive; 3) A seaward hillslope near Gibson Creek, well above Point Lobos State Park road; 4) Canyon of Gibson Creek ca. 2 mi E of Point Lobos; and 5) Pacific Grove, Monterey peninsula.
Remarks
Citations
(1) James E. Eckenwalder at the Flora of North America web site.(2) Little 1970.
(3) Herbarium data for all California species are accessible via the CalFlora Database.
(4) Hickman 1993.
(5) Robert S. Thompson, Katherine H. Anderson and Patrick J. Bartlein. 1999. Atlas of Relations Between Climatic Parameters and Distributions of Important Trees and Shrubs in North America. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1650 A&B. URL= http://greenwood.cr.usgs.gov/pub/ppapers/p1650-a/pages/conifers.html, accessed 22-Jan-2000.
(6) Vladimir Dinets. E-mail, 16-Mar-2000.
See also:
[ Cupressus ] [ Cupressaceae ] [ home ]
This page is from the Gymnosperm Database
URL: http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/2285/cu/cup/goveniana.htm
Edited by Christopher J. Earle
E-mail:
earlecj@conifers.org
Last modified on 16-Mar-2000