Travels & Trails

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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are 3/4 to 1-inch in diameter with six to eight shield-shaped woody scales surrounding the seeds. Each scale has a point in the middle (see photos above). The cones are green at first but mature to a shade of gray 20-24 months after pollination. Cypress cones remain on the tree for many years rather than falling from the tree annually as do juniper cones.

Cypress seeds also have narrow lateral wings which is another difference between cypresses and junipers. These seeds are commonly eaten by squirrels and other small rodents

Cypress trees (unlike most of our juniper species) are also all monoecious.

Smooth Arizona cypress grow at elevations between 3,500 and 5,500 feet and exist in very scattered populations rather than significant stands. I have found individual trees growing near Seneca on the San Carlos Apache Reservation above the Salt River Canyon. Holbrook has also planted several rows of these trees as windbreaks around the Navajo County government buildings south of town. The trees are now quite large and display their smooth bark well. The blue-green foliage of smooth Arizona cypress is dense with scale-like leaves that are arranged in opposite pairs pressed tightly to four-sided twigs. The foliage has conspicuous resin glands and the needles emit a strong turpentine-like aroma when crushed.

According to American Forests, the largest smooth Arizona cypress can be found on the Tonto National Forest and has a height of 69 feet and a circumference of 62 inches.

This concludes the conifer portion of the Magnificent Trees of the White Mountains. The broad-leaved trees, more technically called angiosperms are next. Please let Amie know if you have enjoyed this series and are now better able to appreciate the diverse conifers that blanket our White Mountains and create such incredible habitat for the birds and wildlife that make this montane environment their home.

About the author: Ron is a retired Forester and Silviculturist. He has lived and worked in the White Mountains since 2002. He can be reached at azron333@yahoo.com.