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Scientific name: Cupressus torulosa D.Don 1825
Synonyms:Athrotaxis joucadan Carrière, Cupressus austrotibetica Silba, Cupressus corneyana Knight & Perry ex Carrière, Cupressus doniana Hook.f., Cupressus duclouxiana subsp. austrotibetica (Silba) Silba, Cupressus flagelliformis Knight, Cupressus gigantea subsp. ludlowii (Silba) Silba, Cupressus gigantea subsp. tongmaiensis (Silba) Silba, Cupressus karnaliensis Silba, Cupressus lusitanica subsp. kuluensis Silba, Cupressus lusitanica subsp. torulosa (D.Don) Silba & Brian Chen, Cupressus majestica Knight, Cupressus nepalensis Loudon, Cupressus pakistanensis Silba, Cupressus sempervirens var. indica Parl., Cupressus tongmaiensis Silba, Cupressus tournefortii Ten., Cupressus whitleyana Carrière, Juniperus gracilis Carrière, Juniperus pendula Parl., Sabina corneyana Antoine, Thuja curviramea Miq.
Common names:Himalayan cypress, Surai (India)
Description
Tree to 25(-50) m tall, with trunk to 1.5(-3.5) m in diameter. Bark grayish brown, peeling in long, vertical strips. Crown broadly conical, rounded above, of short horizontal branches, sometimes drooping at the tips. Branchlets roundly four-sided, 1-1.5(-2) mm in diameter, branching from all four rows of leaves or irregularly only from two. Scale leaves on branchlets 1-2 mm long, dark green to grayish green with light waxiness, the edges minutely toothed, the back without a conspicuous gland. Pollen cones (3-)5-6(-8) mm long, 1-1.5 mm wide, with (6-)8-10(-12) pairs of pollen scales, each with three or four pollen sacs. Seed cones oblong or spherical, 1.2-2(-2.5) cm long, reddish brown at maturity, not waxy, with (three or) four to seven pairs of seed scales, each usually with a strong conical point on the face, the surface smooth or wrinkled. Seeds six to eight per scale, 4-5 mm long, the wings to 1.5 mm wide, light brown, not waxy, warty with resin pockets. Cotyledons (two or) three to five.
Western Himalaya, from Chamba, Himachal Pradesh (India), to western Nepal. Forming groves or scattered in mixed conifer forests, particularly on limestone soils; 1,500-3,300 m.
Conservation Status
Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern
(Although there has been some localized logging, due to its very large extent of occurrence, which with Cupressus torulosa var. gigantea includes parts of the Tsangpo Valley in Xizang (Tibet) as well as the Himalayas, the status of the entire species must be the same as that of Cupressus torulosa var. torulosa - namely, Least Concern)
References
Farjon, A. (2010). A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Koninklijke Brill, Leiden.
Eckenwalder, J.E. (2009) Conifers of the World: The Complete Reference. Timber Press, Portland.
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Cambridge, UK /Gland, Switzerland
Copyright © Aljos Farjon, James E. Eckenwalder, IUCN, Conifers Garden. All rights reserved.
