Port Orford Cedar

Chamaecyparis lawsoniana
Old-growth stand of C. lawsoniana in California
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Pinophyta
Class:	Pinopsida
Order:	Pinales
Family:	Cupressaceae
Genus:	Chamaecyparis
Species:	C. lawsoniana
Binomial name
Chamaecyparis lawsoniana (A. Murray) Parl.
Natural range of Port Orford cedar

Chamaecyparis lawsoniana, known as Port Orford cedar or Lawson cypress, is a species of conifer in the genus Chamaecyparis, family Cupressaceae. It is native to Oregon and northwestern California, and grows from sea level up to 1,500 m (4,900 ft) in the valleys of the Klamath Mountains, often along streams.

It is a large evergreen tree, maturing up to 197 ft (60 m) tall or more, with trunks 4–7 ft (1.2–2 m) in diameter, with feathery foliage in flat sprays, usually somewhat glaucous (i.e. blue-green) in color. The leaves are scale-like, ¹⁄₈–³⁄₁₆ inch (3–5 mm) long, with narrow white markings on the underside, and produced on somewhat flattened shoots. The foliage gives off a rather pungent scent, not unlike parsley. The seed cones are globose, ⁹⁄₃₂–⁹⁄₁₆ inch (7–14 mm) diameter, with 6-10 scales, green at first, maturing brown in early fall, 6–8 months after pollination. The male cones are ¹⁄₈–⁵⁄₃₂ inch (3–4 mm) long, dark red, turning brown after pollen release in early spring. The bark is reddish-brown, and fibrous to scaly in vertical strips.

It was first discovered (by Euro-Americans) near Port Orford in Oregon and introduced into cultivation in 1854, by collectors working for the Lawson & Son nursery in Edinburgh, Scotland, after whom it was named as Lawson Cypress by the describing botanist Andrew Murray. The USDA officially calls it by the name Port Orford cedar, as do most people in its native area, but some botanists prefer to use the name Lawson cypress (or in very rare instances Port Orford cypress) instead. The name "Lawson's cypress" is widely used in horticulture.

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Wikipedia