Cupressaceae is a
conifer family, the cypress, with worldwide distribution. The family includes 27–30 genera (17
monotypic), which include the
junipers and
redwoods, with about 130–140 species in total. They are
monoecious,
subdioecious or (rarely)
dioecioustrees and
shrubs up to 116 m (381 ft) tall. The
bark of mature trees is commonly orange- to red-brown and of stringy texture, often flaking or peeling in vertical strips, but smooth, scaly or hard and square-cracked in some species.
Description
The
leaves are arranged either spirally, in
decussate pairs (opposite pairs, each pair at 90° to the previous pair) or in decussate whorls of three or four, depending on the genus. On young plants, the leaves are needle-like, becoming small and scale-like on mature plants of many genera; some genera and species retain needle-like leaves throughout their lives.[1] Old leaves are mostly not shed individually, but in small sprays of foliage (
cladoptosis);[1] exceptions are leaves on the shoots that develop into branches. These leaves eventually fall off individually when the bark starts to flake. Most are
evergreen with the leaves persisting 2–10 years, but three genera (Glyptostrobus, Metasequoia and Taxodium) are
deciduous or include deciduous species.
The
seed cones are either woody, leathery, or (in Juniperus) berry-like and fleshy, with one to several ovules per scale. The bract scale and ovuliferous scale are fused together except at the apex, where the bract scale is often visible as a short spine (often called an umbo) on the ovuliferous scale. As with the foliage, the cone scales are arranged spirally, decussate (opposite) or whorled, depending on the genus. The
seeds are mostly small and somewhat flattened, with two narrow wings, one down each side of the seed; rarely (e.g. Actinostrobus) triangular in section with three wings; in some genera (e.g. Glyptostrobus and Libocedrus), one of the wings is significantly larger than the other, and in some others (e.g. Juniperus, Microbiota, Platycladus, and Taxodium) the seed is larger and wingless. The seedlings usually have two
cotyledons, but in some species up to six. The
pollen cones are more uniform in structure across the family, 1–20 mm long, with the scales again arranged spirally, decussate (opposite) or whorled, depending on the genus; they may be borne singly at the apex of a shoot (most genera), in the leaf axils (Cryptomeria), in dense clusters (Cunninghamia and Juniperus drupacea), or on discrete long pendulous
panicle-like shoots (Metasequoia and Taxodium).
Cupressaceae is a widely distributed conifer family, with a near-global range in all continents except for Antarctica, stretching from 70°N in arctic
Norway (Juniperus communis)[3] to 55°S in southernmost
Chile (Pilgerodendron uviferum), further south than any other conifer species.[4]Juniperus indica reaches 4930 m altitude in
Tibet.[5] Most habitats on land are occupied, with the exceptions of polar
tundra and tropical lowland
rainforest[citation needed] (though several species are important components of
temperate rainforests and tropical highland
cloud forests); they are also rare in
deserts[citation needed], with only a few species able to tolerate severe drought, notably Cupressus dupreziana[who?] in the central
Sahara. Despite the wide overall distribution, many genera and species show very restricted relictual distributions, and many are
endangered species.
Molecular and morphological studies have expanded Cupressaceae to include the genera of
Taxodiaceae, previously treated as a distinct family, but now shown not to differ from the Cupressaceae in any consistent characteristics. The member genera have been placed into five distinct subfamilies of Cupressaceae,
Athrotaxidoideae,
Cunninghamioideae,
Sequoioideae,
Taiwanioideae, and
Taxodioideae, which form a
grade basal to Cupressaceae sensu stricto, containing
Callitroideae and
Cupressoideae. The former Taxodiaceae genus, Sciadopitys, has been moved to a separate monotypic family
Sciadopityaceae due to being genetically distinct from the rest of the Cupressaceae. In some classifications Cupressaceae is raised to an order, Cupressales. Molecular evidence supports Cupressaceae being the
sister group to the yews (family
Taxaceae), from which it diverged during the early-mid
Triassic. The clade comprising both is sister to Sciadopityaceae, which diverged from them during the early-mid
Permian.[6] The oldest definitive record of Cupressaceae is Austrohamia minuta from the Early Jurassic (
Pliensbachian) of Patagonia, known from many parts of the plant.[7] The reproductive structures of Austrohamia have strong similarities to those of the primitive living cypress genera Taiwania and Cunninghamia. By the Middle to Late Jurassic Cupressaceae were abundant in warm temperate–tropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The diversity of the group continued to increase during the Cretaceous period.[8] The earliest appearance of the non-taxodiaceous Cupressaceae (the clade containing Callitroideae and Cupressoideae) is in the mid-Cretaceous, represented by "Widdringtonia" americana from the
Cenomanian of North America, and they subsequently diversified during the Late Cretaceous and early Cenozoic.[9]
The family is divided into seven subfamilies, based on genetic and morphological analysis as follows:[10][11]
A 2010 study of Actinostrobus and Callitris places the three species of Actinostrobus within an expanded Callitris based on analysis of 42 morphological and anatomical characters.[16]
Phylogeny based on 2000 study of morphological and molecular data.[17] Several further papers have suggested the segregation Cupressus species into four total genera.[18][19]
A 2021 molecular study supported a very similar phylogeny but with some slight differences, along with the splitting of Cupressus (found to be paraphyletic):[6]
Many of the species are important
timber sources, especially in the genera Calocedrus, Chamaecyparis, Cryptomeria, Cunninghamia, Cupressus, Sequoia, Taxodium, and Thuja. Calocedrus decurrens is the main wood used to make wooden pencils, and is also used in chests, paneling, and flooring.[20] In China, cypress wood known as baimu or bomu,[21] was carved into furniture, using notably Cupressus funebris,[21] and particularly in tropical areas,
Fujian cypress[22] and the aromatic wood of Glyptostrobus pensilis.[23]Juniperus virginiana has used by
Native Americans for
waymarking. Its heartwood is fragrant and used in clothes chests, drawers and closets to repel moths. It is a source of juniper oil used in perfumes and medicines. The wood is also used as long lasting fenceposts and for bows.
Several genera are important in horticulture.
Junipers are planted as evergreen trees, shrubs, and groundcovers. Hundreds of
cultivars have been developed,[24] including plants with blue, grey, or yellow foliage.[25]Chamaecyparis and Thuja also provide hundreds of
dwarf cultivars as well as trees, including
Lawson's cypress.
Dawn redwood is widely planted as an ornamental tree because of its excellent horticultural qualities, rapid growth and status as a
living fossil.[26]Giant sequoia is a popular ornamental tree[27] and is occasionally grown for timber.[28] Giant sequoia,[29] Leyland cypress, and Arizona cypress are grown to a small extent as
Christmas trees.[30]
Native Americans and early European explorers used Thuja leaves as a cure for scurvy. Distillation of Fokienia roots produces an essential oil called
pemou oil[37] used in medicine and cosmetics.[38]
Recent progress on Endophyte Biology in Cupressaceae, by the groups of Jalal Soltani (
Bu-Ali Sina University) and
Elizabeth Arnold (
Arizona University) have revealed prevalent symbioses of endophytes and endofungal bacteria with family Cupressaceae. Furthermore, current and potential uses of Cupressaceous tree's endophytes in agroforestry and medicine is shown by both groups.
Chemistry
The Cupressaceae trees contain a wide range of
extractives, especially
terpenes and
terpenoids,[39] both of which have strong and often pleasant odors.
The
heartwood,
bark and
leaves are the tree parts richest in terpenes.[40] Some of these compounds are widely distributed in other trees as well, and some are typical for Cupressaceae family. The most known terpenoids found in
conifers are
sesquiterpenoids,
diterpenes and
tropolones. Diterpenes are commonly found in different types of conifers and are not typical for this family. Some sesquiterpenoids (e.g. bisabolanes, cubenanes, guaianes, ylanganes, himachalanes, longifolanes, longibornanes, longipinanes, cedranes, thujopsanes) also present in
Pinaceae,
Podocarpaceae and
Taxodiaceae.[39] Meanwhile, chamigranes, cuparanes, widdranes and acoranes are more distinctive for Cupressaceae.
Tropolone derivatives, such as nootkatin, chanootin,
thujaplicinol and
hinokitiol are particularly characteristic for Cupressaceae.
^Bosma, Hylke F.; Kunzmann, Lutz; Kvaček, Jiří; van Konijnenburg-van Cittert, Johanna H.A. (August 2012). "Revision of the genus Cunninghamites (fossil conifers), with special reference to nomenclature, taxonomy and geological age". Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. 182: 20–100200294924.
Bibcode:
2012RPaPa.182...20B.
doi:
10.1016/j.revpalbo.2012.06.004.
^Holz, Andrés; Hart, Sarah J.; Williamson, Grant J.; Veblen, Thomas T.; Aravena, Juan C. (25 March 2018). "Radial growth response to climate change along the latitudinal range of the world's southernmost conifer in southern South America". Journal of Biogeography. 45 (5). Wiley: 1140–1152.
doi:
10.1111/jbi.13199.
S2CID90020476.
^
abcdeArmin Jagel, Veit Dörken: Morphology and morphogenesis of the seed cones of the Cupressaceae - part I. Cunninghamioideae, Athrotaxoideae, Taiwanioideae, Sequoioideae, Taxodioideae. In: Bulletin of the Cupressus Conservation Project, 3(3): 117-136 (
PDFArchived 27 September 2016 at the
Wayback Machine)
^Armin Jagel, Veit Dörken: Morphology and morphogenesis of the seed cones of the Cupressaceae - part III. Callitroideae. In: Bulletin of the Cupressus Conservation Project 4(3): 91-103 (
PDFArchived 22 December 2015 at the
Wayback Machine)
^Armin Jagel, Veit Dörken: Morphology and morphogenesis of the seed cones of the Cupressaceae - part II. Cupressoideae. In: Bulletin of the Cupressus Conservation Project 4(2): 51-78 (
PDFArchived 11 December 2015 at the
Wayback Machine)
^Piggin, J.; Bruhl, J. J. (2010). "Phylogeny reconstruction of Callitris Vent. (Cupressaceae) and its allies leads to inclusion of Actinostrobus within Callitris". Australian Systematic Botany. 23 (2): 69–93.
doi:
10.1071/sb09044.
^Farjon, A. (2005). Monograph of Cupressaceae and Sciadopitys. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
ISBN1-84246-068-4..
^Xiang, Q.; Li, J. (2005). "Derivation of Xanthocyparis and Juniperus from within Cupressus: Evidence from Sequences of nrDNA Internal Transcribed Spacer Region". Harvard Papers in Botany. 9 (2): 375–382.
^"Junipers". Chicago Botanic Garden.
Archived from the original on 20 December 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
^Westerfield, Bob (6 October 2022) [15 May 2009].
"Junipers". University of Georgia Extension.
Archived from the original on 20 December 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
^Satoh, Keiko (14 November 1998).
"Metasequoia Travels the Globe". Arnoldia. Vol. 58, no. 4. Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. pp. 72–75.
Archived from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
^Cox, Lauren E.; York, Robert A.; Battles, John J. (15 May 2021). "Growth and form of giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) in a plantation spacing trial after 28 years". Forest Ecology and Management. 488. Elsevier: 119033.
doi:
10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119033.
S2CID233554030.
^Owen, Jeff (November 2011).
"Selecting the Right Tree". North Carolina State Extension.
Archived from the original on 15 December 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
^Williams, Jack A.; Boyd, Carole Jean (1 September 2005). Carving Cypress Knees: Creating Whimsical Characters from One of Nature's Most Unique Woods. Fox Chapel Publishing.
ISBN978-1-5652-3271-6.
^Lesueur, Dominique; et al. (2006). "Analysis of the root oil of Fokienia hodginsii (Dunn) Henry et Thomas (Cupressaceae) by GC, GC–MS and 13C‐NMR". Flavour and Fragrance Journal. 21 (1): 171–174.
doi:
10.1002/ffj.1557.
^
abOtto, Angelika; Wilde, Volker (April 2001). "Sesqui-, di-, and triterpenoids as chemosystematic markers in extant conifers—A review". The Botanical Review. 67 (2): 141–238.
doi:
10.1007/BF02858076.
S2CID20371074.
^Zhao, Jian Zhao and Jian (30 September 2007). "Plant Troponoids: Chemistry, Biological Activity, and Biosynthesis". Current Medicinal Chemistry. 14 (24): 2597–2621.
doi:
10.2174/092986707782023253.
PMID17979713.
^Kern, Frank D. (1973). "A host survey of Gymnosporangium". Mycopathologia et Mycologia Applicata. 51 (1): 99–101.
doi:
10.1007/BF02141290.
S2CID7875028.
^Krihara (Kurihashi), M. (1997). "Physiochemical and immunological characterization of major allergens of Japanese cedar pollen and false cypress pollen". Allergology (in Japanese). 3: 203–211.
^
abOgren, Thomas Leo (2015). The Allergy-Fighting Garden: Stop Asthma and Allergies with Smart Landscaping. Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press.
ISBN978-1-60774-491-7.
Further reading
Soltani, J. (2017) Endophytism in Cupressoideae (Coniferae): A Model in Endophyte Biology and Biotechnology. In: Maheshwari D. (eds) Endophytes: Biology and Biotechnology. pp. 127–143. Sustainable Development and Biodiversity, vol 15. Springer, Cham.
Pakvaz, S, Soltani J. (2016) Endohyphal bacteria from fungal endophytes of the Mediterranean cypress (Cupressus sempervirens) exhibit in vitro bioactivity. Forest Pathology, 46: 569–581.
Soltani, J., Zaheri Shoja, M., Hamzei, J., Hosseyni-Moghaddam, M.S., Pakvaz, S. (2016) Diversity and bioactivity of endophytic bacterial community of Cupressaceae. Forest Pathology, 46: 353–361.
Farjon, A. (1998). World Checklist and Bibliography of Conifers. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 300 p.
ISBN1-900347-54-7.
Little, D. P., Schwarzbach, A. E., Adams, R. P. & Hsieh, Chang-Fu. (2004). The circumscription and phylogenetic relationships of Callitropsis and the newly described genus Xanthocyparis (Cupressaceae). American Journal of Botany 91 (11): 1872–1881.
Available onlineArchived 15 May 2008 at the
Wayback Machine.