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Xanthocyparis nootkatensis

Nootka cypress
Cupressus nootkatensis
Cupressus nootkatensis 5879.JPG
Foliage and green cone, Mount Rainier National Park
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Cupressaceae
Genus: Cupressus
Species: C. nootkatensis
Binomial name
Cupressus nootkatensis
D.Don 1824
Cupressus nootkatensis range map 3.png
Natural range of Cupressus nootkatensis
Synonyms
  • Callitropsis nootkatensis (D.Don) Oerst. ex D.P.Little
  • Callitropsis nootkatensis (D. Don) Florin
  • Chamaecyparis nootkatensis (D. Don) Sudw.
  • Chamaecyparis nootkatensis (D.Don) Spach
  • Chamaecyparis nutkaensis Lindl. & Gordon
  • Cupressus americana Trautv.
  • Cupressus nutkatensis Hook.
  • Thuja excelsa Bong.
  • Thujopsis borealis Carrière
  • Thujopsis cupressoides Carrière
  • Thujopsis tchugatskoyae Carrière
  • Xanthocyparis nootkatensis (D.Don) Farjon & D.K.Harder

Cupressus nootkatensis is a species of trees in the cypress family native to the coastal regions of northwestern North America. This species goes by many common names including: Nootka cypress, yellow cypress, Alaska cypress, Nootka cedar, yellow cedar, Alaska cedar, and Alaska yellow cedar. The specific epithet "nootkatensis" is derived from its discovery on the lands of a First Nation of Canada, those lands of the Nuu-chah-nulth people of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, who were formerly referred to as the Nootka.

First described in the genus Cupressus as Cupressus nootkatensis in 1824, it was transferred to Chamaecyparis in 1841 on the basis of its foliage being in flattened sprays, as in other Chamaecyparis, but unlike most (though not all) other Cupressus species.

However, this placement does not fit with the morphology and phenology of the cones, which are far more like Cupressus, like them maturing in two years, not one. Genetic evidence, published by Gadek et al., strongly supported its return to Cupressus and exclusion from Chamaecyparis.

More recently, Farjon et al. (2002) transferred it to a new genus Xanthocyparis, together with the newly discovered Vietnamese golden cypress Xanthocyparis vietnamensis; this species is remarkably similar to Nootka Cypress and the treatment has many arguments in its favour, as while they are not related to Chamaecyparis, neither do they fit fully in Cupressus despite the many similarities.

Little et al., while confirming the above relationship with further evidence, pointed out that an earlier nomenclatural combination in the genus Callitropsis existed, as Callitropsis nootkatensis (D.Don) Oerst., published in 1864 but overlooked or ignored by other subsequent authors. Little et al. therefore synonymised Xanthocyparis with Callitropsis, the correct name for these species under the ICBN when treated in a distinct genus. The name Xanthocyparis has now been proposed for conservation, and the 2011 International Botanical Congress followed that recommendation.


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