Hesperocyparis pigmaea

Pygmy cypress

Family: Cupressaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Pygmy cypress is a California native shrub found in closed-cone pine and cypress forests, coastal terraces, and mixed-evergreen forests along the central California coast at elevations of 50 to 200 meters. This distinctive conifer ranges from a compact 1 to 2 meters tall on sterile soils to a more substantial 10 to 20 meters on richer ground, with long whip-like branches and fibrous gray-brown bark. Growing with cylindrical branches less than 1.2 millimeters in diameter, it displays dark dull green foliage that lacks visible resin. Its seed cones are distinctive, measuring 12 to 27 millimeters long and spheric to widely elliptic, initially tan and aging to gray with 6 to 10 scales. The seeds are small, dark red-brown to black, measuring 2.5 to 4.7 millimeters long with a shiny appearance.

Habitat: Closed-cone-pine/cypress forests, mixed-evergreen forest, coastal terraces

Elevation: 50-200(300) m

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