Arizona Cypress Tree (Cupressus arizonica)

Arizona cypress scientific name is cupressus arizonica. It is the only cypress native to southwest. This tree is evergreen, dense, upright which is cone shaped. Further to that it is a medium tree which grows up to 60 feet spreading to around 30 inches. The bark is brown but it becomes fibrous with flat ridges when it ages.

This tree requires full sun for better development and a minimum of 12 inches of water annually. It is drought resistant so when grown in homes, one can water until it establishes. The soils that are good for this tree should be well drained since it does not grow well in soils that have lots of water. In fact it does well in dry places.

The leaves are arranged opposite in pairs which are grayish-green, bluish green or silver. When you crush these leaves they have a fetid odor. The cones are round, dark reddish brown and around 1 inch in diameter. Recommended time for planting is early spring summer where 6 foot spacing is ideal.

This tree is mostly found in rocky areas where it grows slowly. But when grown in good soils and taken care of, it has a rapid growth of up to 3 feet per year. It is usually found for one year old potted.

The Arizona cypress can be harvested and processed to make good fence posts because it is very durable when seasoned. However when grown for timber, it does not give much but can be used as a Christmas tree, can be used for soil erosion, ornamental and other crafts works.

This tree has few disease pests. But when grown in places with high humidity, incident of diseases are reported. These pests are mistletoes which sucks the nutrients from the tree. The bark beetle can also disturb it by mining the twigs.