Lawson's Cypress (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana)
Appearance: Evergreen coniferous tree with very tall, strikingly narrow, a conical crown and a usually drooping leading shoot; when he stands alone, it is goose-shaped and evenly branched to the ground. In his homeland, it reaches a height of up to 60 m, with us, little more than 20 meters. Due to the branching of the trunk, the crown is often multi-peaked.
The bark is initially gray-brown or greenish and smooth, later – darkens and is divided into large ones, longitudinal lobes, the ends of which deviate.
Branches quite short, but richly branched.
Scaly pins, cross opposite, May 0,5-2 mm in length and fit very closely to the axis. Dark green on top, clearly lighter underneath and separated by whitish seams.
Male flowers are carmine red and usually appear at the ends of twigs.
Female cones have only four pairs of scales, they are spherical, with a thickness of approx 8 mm, light brown when ripe. Occurrence: It originally only grew in western North America, in the states of Oregon and California. It is planted in various forms all over Europe as an ornamental tree.
Flowering period: March to April. Related species:
Nutka cypress (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis) it is similar in appearance to the Lawson Cypress, however, it has a slightly more uniform and more regular crown. Less frequently than the previous species, it is used as an ornamental and park tree. Japanese cypress (Chamaecyparis obtuse), native to japan, it is distinguished by very small scaly leaves, which, however, in the top part are clearly rounded and adhere closely to the shoot. On the outside, they are shiny and dark green, brighter underneath. When rubbed, they give off a scent somewhat reminiscent of eucalyptus candies. It is planted in many forms in gardens and parks. In Japan, its wood is used in furniture carpentry, for woodcarving and other decorations, as well as in the construction of temples. Pea cypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera) has flat twigs, whose scaly leaves come down sharply, with their tops curved inward. Vivid green leaves, a bit shiny, strongly scented when rubbed.
Very small female cones. the size of a pea (feature giving the name, pisum = groch). Originally it only grew wild in Japan, now very often planted in many forms in parks and gardens, also in dwarf forms or shrub varieties.
A very peculiar phenomenon is the Leyland cypress (Cupressocyparis leylandii). It is a cross between parent species of different genera (generic crossbreed) and the only known hybrid of this type in the coniferous area. The parent species are: nutca cypress (look up) and large-fruited cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa). This tree grows to a height of approx 30 m and has a crown conical to columnar, with very dense branches on a straight one, mostly slender trunk. Hybrids vary slightly depending on this, which species was used in the crusaders as female.
As long as the branches of flat branches are arranged on both sides in one plane, the female parent was Chamaecyparis noofkatensis, In the case of a reverse cross, the twigs are arranged in many planes and therefore appear slightly less regular.