Cupressus macrocarpa, Monterey Cypress (12)
The Monterey Cypress is another California native (Metcalf, 1959). It isn’t the largest or the tallest California tree; however, it does have the smallest natural range of any species native to California (Cockrell, 1976). They occur naturally in only two small areas of coastline in Monterey County, but they have since been planted up and down the California coast (Stuart and Sawyer, 2001).
Monterey Cypresses are erect, single stemmed evergreen conifers. They have spreading crowns consisting of dark green, very dense foliage. The leaves are scale like and grow in layers and serve very well as wind-breaks. The globular cones usually have about 7 pairs of polygonal shield shaped scales and are woody in texture. Near the coast, the trees are often contorted and twisted by a combination of high winds and thin, rocky soil. In better conditions, they are tall and upright, such as the example in the image.
Today, the Monterey Cypress is not limited to its natural range. While tourists and photographers flock to Monterey to take pictures of the trees on their natural rocky soil (with the sun setting in the background), the trees can be found almost anywhere in coastal California. The trees were planted extensively as windbreaks and as ornamentals. Farther a field, the Monterey Cypress is planted for timber in the southern hemisphere (Stuart and Sawyer, 2001).