Wow fabulous photos! Id not heard of that McNabb cypress before, some handsome specimens there!

Hi Shastensis,

Did you happen to grab any acorns of the scrub oak?

Dax

And cones of the Cypress/seeds?

Thanks,

Dax

Superb pics! Just a shame that scent can't be attached to forum posts . . . a most delightful spicy-resinous scent, that persists for ages (have to get my herbarium specimens out for a sniff, could get hooked on it ;-)

Worth adding that natural hybrids with Cupressus sargentii occur frequently where their ranges overlap; saw some of these at the north end of Indian Valley Reservoir, Colusa Co., mixed with both parents. They look similar to C. macnabiana in foliage and cones, but a more erect, narrow-crowned habit. Wondering if this might apply to your ones tagged "More Young trees...".

"any idea how this species performs in Britain"

In general, not widely planted; something you'll only find in larger botanical collections. Which is a real shame, given all the crappy cultivars of common species that get sold. The champion specimen is listed as 20m tall, at Bayfordbury, Hertfordshire. But that'd make it far larger than most, if not all, in the wild; I wonder if it is correctly identified. Similarly dubious about one 19m tall in Ireland at Avondale, Co. Wicklow.

Resin

No chance of getting some propagation going over here Resin?

Wonderful shots...they make me feel right at home... ;)

The Manzanita are excellent. Some supreme natural bonsai.

I was not familiar with this Cypress, either. At a distance, it's shape
resembles an oak.

Josh

Very nice photos shastensis. This year I haven't gotten too far from home even a little trip down to Memphis shows me a different climate. Next year I am definitely planning a trip out west.

On a humorous note:

McNab apparently does poorly in WashingtonDC

Here is a link that might be useful: Washington Redskins / Donovan McNab(b) stats

Resin

I agree with those awful cultivars sold in
garden centers I get so fed up with them.NEED
SOME RARE STUFF IN OUR GARDEN CENTERS!

I have cones of the cypress, I could not find acorns of the scrub oak, and further more I am not sure what species it might be, possibly dumosa. California oak taxonomy can be a nightmare and a mystery unto itself...there is simply so much variation according to geography and locale.

I have cones of the Cupressus macnabiana, and though it is cold-hardy, I do not know if it would be hardy for you. It is one of the California Cupressus in which stratification is a MUST, which is odd for the group. Even bakeri, without strat, will get a few germinations. Mcnab will not, probably because it grows in areas that are hotter and drier.

I posted my message in response to Dax, before any of the other posts had shown up. Not sure why mine showed up so late, but anyway...

I would be happy to send some seed to anybody in Britain...what are the regs regarding mailing seeds to the UK?

I was not aware that it performed well over there, I always thought the humidity and lack of hot/dry in the summer would be problematic for it. It really is an excellent species.

As far as the sargentii hybrids go...its true - they grow right next to each other on soil that is the color of rust. And there is a lot of morphological variation among Cupressus sargentii itself... specimens from Marin County have foliage that looks very different than specimens from the macnabiana interlap zone. Who knows how many thousands/millions of years the different populations have been separated...

A particularly fine stand of C. macnabiana exists in Magalia, California, right off one of the main roads through town...the trees are huge and the cone size on the trees in this population is larger than any I've seen. The trees grow on pure green serpentenite rock. Definitely worth stopping.

This is one of my favorite genera of conifers, without a doubt.

A Colvos Creek nursery seedling, which I remember as being this species is now about 8' tall where I planted it from a one gallon pot in Island County, WA. There have been no cones and I don't see a label so I am not sure of the identification; general appearance of tree is similar.

There was a bit of burning during the 2008 winter but it has been pretty solid the rest of the time. If I talk to Colvos Creek we may be able to work out which species it is. They focus on dry climate trees and shrubs like this. A variety of cypresses have gone through their doors so looking at recent listings did not enable to decide which one I have.

Gorgeous scenery and interesting plants! Thanks for the tour.

Hi Shastensis,

I would be interested in seeds. They are for a friend who has the right, climate. (a small amount is more than fine).

Thanks!

Dax
email me thru my member page - it could take up to a week until I can view the email though - as my internet provider has a default program that looks for suspicious spam. Eventually I see all emails, however...

shastensis, great pics. After seeing the rough-bark Arizona Cypress at Big Bend National Park (the monarchs of the mountain), it is surprising to see how different some of its cousins are in other environments.

Shastensis,

I just hope, that you studied the first Semidesert conifers thread, which is working about partly the continental american cypresses. In the attached page you can enjoy hundreds of my photos taken in the Arizonica Arboretum in Hungary of selected and named new cypress cultivars up to z6 and droughts.

As you probably know, Debreczy, Baracskay and Hodi Toth (HTJ) are discovering the american SW for continental use of cypresses since about 30 (!) years. The resumee is to be seen in in the Arizonica. Their works also inspired me to let you know, what you americans have in your vaste semideserts. I used to say to my american friends, make your own conifer world, and really, as Jerry Morris and Nate makes it in Colorado, Dax in the North, I hope you share them in California.

HTJ pleased me for the followings:

Your photo Nr. 3 is a natural hybrid of Cupressus macnabiana with bakeri or sargentii, this seems on the cones.
The photos 1, 2, 6, 7, 14, 19 are obviously macnabiana, cones without resinous tips. This works in Hungary up to z6, but irrigation is forbidden. Irrigated cypress plants are only z7-8. I saw this year, that the selected and unirrigated plants survived in the Arizonica without damages, and the suburban ones died of frosted up to 2-3 meters high.

One of the types you mention are to be seen at Arizonica: photos of 119-123 is Cupressus macnabiana Deres, a wide, resinous one. Another type is the photo 149-150, Cupressus macnabiana Dick, a narrow column. No. 110 is a Cupressus bakeri Liliput, a slow growing natural dwarf. Anyway, a part of the SW conifer heritage is now in Hungary ready for introduction.

In the next entry I give you another link, where you can study the Cupressus files with descriptions of all american cypress selections too.

Conifer Treasury of Hungary 1.0 2010
http://www.garden-kerteszet.hu/ma_files/magyarfenyok.doc

Good luck to discover America.

Zsolt

Here is a link that might be useful: Arizonica Arboretum HUN gallery

Shastensis,
I went on the MacNab hunt yesterday....but I'm not sure if I found the trees or not.
Does this look like a young MacNab to you, or did I photo the wrong thing? If this is the species,
there are hundreds and hundreds growing...alongside the other species one would expect in these
serpentine soils: Gray Pine, Manzanita, Toyon, Ceanothus, and some Ponderosa Pine.

The prominent resin glands on this species, are they a defence against dessication in a xeric environment?

Possibly against sunlight (white reflects light), possibly against insects (the foliage is quite sticky in C. macnabiana, unlike the similar resin spots in e.g. C. glabra). But that's only guessing.

Resin

Ive got some c macnabiana seedlings have to see how
this rare species does here in SW UK.

Be interesting to see how they get on blue!

Yes its always good to get these rare species

I dont suppose there'd be a chance of sharing one of those seedlings blue...?

Yep no problem

Josh - looks like a good I.d. for macnabiana. The only other thing it could be is a sargentii, and I don't think there are any groves of sargentii that far inland. You're looking for resin dots on the foliage, foliage occuring in flat sprays here and there, and cones with prominent umbos ("horns"). Do you have a close-up or any more pics?

I too immediately thought of Donovan, hah. I wonder if you happened to find any upstart pinus Grossmannii specimens during your trip...

Nice pics, Shast! Thanks for sharing!

I do have a few more pics...I can post them here if it's alright with you?
Unfortunately, I didn't find any large specimens. Most were large shrubs growing along the road.
However, I did see a few larger plants, further off the road and mostly inaccessible.

Josh