Hesperocyparis glabra | |
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Male pollen cones | |
Hesperocyparis glabra red bark peeling on trunk, Coconino National Forest, Arizona | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Gymnospermae |
Division: | Pinophyta |
Class: | Pinopsida |
Order: | Cupressales |
Family: | Cupressaceae |
Genus: | Hesperocyparis |
Species: | H. glabra
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Binomial name | |
Hesperocyparis glabra (
Sudw.) Bartel
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Synonyms [2] | |
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Hesperocyparis glabra, known as the Arizona smooth bark cypress or smooth Arizona cypress, is a conifer native to the American Southwest, with a range stretching over the canyons and slopes in a somewhat wide vicinity around Sedona, Arizona. It is distinguished from Hesperocyparis arizonica by its very smooth, non-furrowed bark which can appear in shades of pink, cherry, and grey. [3]
It is often seen in cultivation, as unlike the Monterey cypress, it has proved to be very resistant to cypress canker. [4]
Hesperocyparis glabra was scientifically described by George Bishop Sudworth in 1910 with the name of Cupressus glabra. [2] [5] In 1966 the botanist Elbert Luther Little published a paper where he argued that it was a subspecies of what was then Cupressus arizonica. [2] Along with the other new world Cupressus species it was transferred to the new genus Hesperocyparis in 2009. At the same time the authors restored it as a species under its present name. [2] [6]
As of 2024 [update] Hesperocyparis glabra is listed as the accepted species name with no subspecies by Plants of the World Online (POWO), [2] World Flora Online, [7] and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS database (PLANTS). [8]