APPENDIX 87 



In cultivation the Monterey cypress has long been a favorite shelter 

 and hedge plant in California and is easily propagated by seed which is 

 readily germinated within two or three weeks in open-air nursery beds. 

 Each cone produces about 150 seeds. The seedlings grow with weed-like 

 rapidity. Practically all cypress hedges in California are of this species. 

 It lends itself to the art of the formal gardener, by whom it is almost 

 always clipped into regular forms or even into most fantastic figures. It is 

 a successful windbreak and is much used for that purpose since it will 

 grow an erect body in places where the wind promptly controls other 

 species. As an ornamental tree it has also been widely planted, but has 

 comparatively little to recommend it save its rapid growth and dense crown. 



The present exceedingly limited area of its natural home must have 

 been caused by change in climatic conditions, since the tree itself is vig- 

 orous and readily adapts itself to cultivation in many parts of the world. 

 Its seeds are light and easily dispersed; they germinate promptly under 

 favorable conditions; the seedlings grow rapidly and show vigor. Never- 

 theless this species could never extend itself over the dry Coast Range hills 

 unaided. Grown in the interior their constitutional vigor seems weakened 

 by the dryness of the hot valleys and they succumb to the attacks of borers. 



The age of Monterey cypress in the native groves is not readily deter- 

 minable since the trees, on account of their rarity and interest, are not cut 

 either for fuel or lumber. One fallen tree savm through to remove it from 

 a roadway was 98 years old and had a trunk two feet in diameter. Since 

 the tree grows rapidly it would seem fair to hazard the opinion that 200 

 to 300 years represents the extreme age of the older trees. The advertise- 

 ment of them in seaside literature as 1,000 to 2,000 years old does not, as 

 far as the writer is able to determine, rest upon any actual data, and prob- 

 ably represents a desire to minister to a popular craving for bigness and 

 extremes. 



Ilartweg found Cupressus macrocarpa near Carmel in 1846 and on his 

 specimens the species was founded. Seed, however, was collected at an 

 earlier date and sent to England, the seedling trees being called Cupressus 

 lamhertiana. For nearly a century the Monterey cypress has been planted 

 in England and various parts of Europe, and has also been carried to 

 Australia and southprn South America. In New Zealand it is widely planted 

 as a shelter plant, but, as in California, it is short-lived except on deep 

 soil near the coast. 



In horticulture ? number of color, leaf and branch forms have been de- 

 veloped ; in one (var. luies) the tips of the branches are light yellow or 

 golden, changing to green in the second year; in another (var. Crippsii) 

 the leaves are spreading instead of appressed with the tips of the youngest 

 growth light yellow; in a third (var. lamhertiana) the habit is spreading. 

 The var. farallonensis Masters is perhaps a cultural form whose origin is 

 unknown. It certainly could not have been derived from the barren, rocky 

 Farallon Islands, as stated by Dr. Masters. 



The wood is heavy, hard, strong, and close-grained, the basal parts of the 

 trunks in particular furnishing highly ornamental patterns. 



