Travels and Trails
Magnificent Trees of the White Mountains
by Ron Miller, M.S., Silviculturist
Smooth Arizona Cypress (Cupressus glabra) Cypresses have unique characteristics and depending on which scientific literature you read, Arizona contains a single species with two varieties or two different species. Both are called Arizona cypress, however, which is surprising since the most abundant one’s range is primarily in Mexico. The smooth (or smooth-barked) variety or species of Arizona cypress is only found in Arizona and is the one we are discussing here. We will treat it as a separate species. When older, this species has thin, smooth bark that exfoliates or peels off in dark reddish brown papery layers (see above). The finest example of this species that I knew of locally grew beside the old Fire Management building in Whiteriver. An Apache friend who was going to take a picture of this magnificent tree for this publication called me in shock when he discovered one week too late that the tree had just been cut down and removed! These trees are not common and it is sad that this local specimen no longer exists. At first glance, cypress trees look similar to junipers but they grow taller and straighter. Apache names, for cypress include gad ndeezi and gad jaz meaning “tall, slender juniper” and “juniper that stands straight and tall”, respectively. There are additional ways
to differentiate between junipers and cypress trees as well. Cypress cones are much larger than any of the juniper cones and they open at maturity to release their seeds while juniper cones do not open and rely on birds and animals to disperse the seeds after digesting them. Smooth Arizona cypress cones
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40 The Maverick Magazine
September 2021 Issue
Celebrating 19 years “on the Mountain”
