Synonym: Cupressus glabra
Cupressus arizonica Greene, Arizona cypress, is the only cypress native to the southwest. It is a medium sized tree 50 to 60 feet tall and 15 to 30 inches in diameter. It is evergreen, with a dense, upright, conical crown and smooth reddish-brown bark that sometimes becomes fibrous with flat ridges. Leaves are scale-like and grayish-green, bluish-green, or silvery, arranged opposite in pairs and tightly clasping the cord-like or four-sided twigs; they emit a fetid odor when crushed. The cones are 3/4 to 1 inch in diameter, subglobose, dark reddish brown, with 6 to 8 shield-shaped woody scales. The cones mature in autumn of the second season but persist on the tree for many years.
Arizona cypress generally requires little maintenance. Deep watering at least every other week is necessary for desert planting during the growing season. Arizona cypress is especially susceptible to fire and needs proper protection.
Arizona cypress ordinarily has few disease pests, but when grown in areas of high humidity, incidence of disease increases. Principal enemies are mistletoes and rusts. The cypress bark beetle may be troublesome by mining twigs on ornamentals.
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