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Cupressus forbesii Jeps.

Tecate Cypress

Modern name

Cupressus guadalupensis var. forbesii (Jeps.) Little

A small tree, usually less than 30 ft high, with numerous ascending branches and very distinct from the other Californian cypresses (except C. stephensonii) in its smooth, lustrous, cherry-red or brown bark, which peels in thin flakes. Leaves light green; resin-pits absent or inconspicuous. Cones grey or brownish, globose, about 1 in. wide, with rather short umbos. Seeds dark brown. A native of S. California, with two separate locations, one in San Diego Co., and the other in Orange Co.; it extends, but scarcely, into Mexico. This cypress, of recent introduction, is allied to C. guadalupensis S. Wats., a species confined to the island of Guadelupe, which lies off the coast of Lower California. This makes a more massive tree than C. forbesii; the leaves are more glaucous; and the cones larger (to 134 in. wide). Both resemble C. macrocarpa in foliage and fruit, but are well distinguished by the smooth, peeling bark. There is a specimen of C. guadalupensis at Borde Hill, Sussex, about 50 ft high, which fruits regularly and shows very well the characteristic bark of this species.


Genus

Cupressus

Other species in the genus