Hesperocyparis forbesii

Tecate cypress

Family: Cupressaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.1

Tecate cypress is a rare (CNPS 1B.1) California native shrub found in western Peninsular Ranges, with some plantings in southwestern mountains, in chaparral habitats at elevations of 450 to 1,500 meters. With its distinctive cherry-red or mahogany-brown bark that peels in thin plates, this cypress grows as a multi-trunked shrub typically less than 10 meters tall. Growing with light to dull green foliage and branches about one millimeter in diameter, it develops distinctive spherical seed cones 20 to 32 millimeters wide in dull brown or gray. Its seed structures are particularly notable, with dark to dull red-brown seeds featuring conspicuous attachment scars and numerous wart-like pitch pockets. The tree produces small pollen cones approximately 3 to 4 millimeters long with 3 to 5 pollen sacs per scale.

Habitat: Chaparral

Elevation: 450-1500 m

Bioregions: w PR, planted outside native range in SW mtns

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.