× Cuprocyparis ovensii (A.F. Mitchell) Farjon

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Credits

Article from New Trees by John Grimshaw & Ross Bayton

Recommended citation
'× Cuprocyparis ovensii' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/x-cuprocyparis/x-cuprocyparis-ovensii/). Accessed 2024-03-28.

Common Names

  • Ovens' Cypress

Synonyms

  • (Cupressus lusitanica Xanthocyparis nootkatensis) × Cupressocyparis ovensii A.F. Mitchell

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

strobilus
Cone. Used here to indicate male pollen-producing structure in conifers which may or may not be cone-shaped.
hybrid
Plant originating from the cross-fertilisation of genetically distinct individuals (e.g. two species or two subspecies).

References

There are no active references in this article.

Credits

Article from New Trees by John Grimshaw & Ross Bayton

Recommended citation
'× Cuprocyparis ovensii' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/x-cuprocyparis/x-cuprocyparis-ovensii/). Accessed 2024-03-28.

Tree to 15 m or more. Crown similar to that of X. nootkatensis. Foliage branches flattened, green-brown, later becoming suffused with red or purple coloration. Leaves strong blue-green, decussate, free and spreading towards the apices, apex acute; leaves releasing a sweet, lemon fragrance when crushed; stomata in prominent white lines on the abaxial surface. Seed cones globose, 10 mm diameter, cone green with heavy deposits of whitish bloom, ripening to violet, persistent after seed dispersal. Seed scales in two to three decussate pairs, valvate; umbo prominent, 3 mm long. Farjon 2005c. Distribution Only in cultivation. USDA Hardiness Zone 6–7 (?). Cross-references S199, K103.

This hybrid was raised by Mr Howard Ovens at Tan-y-Cae, Dyfed in the 1950s, and was named by Alan Mitchell in 1961. It is now widely cultivated throughout the temperate world, sometimes as a quick-growing shelter-belt tree, but it is not a particularly desirable arboretum specimen. It has the familiar shagg ×Cuprocyparis appearance, with slightly finer foliage branches than the others, but equally capable of rapid growth. There are several notable specimens in the United Kingdom, the champion being one at Westonbirt measured at 17 m for TROBI in 2002 by Owen Johnson. A tree planted at the JC Raulston Arboretum in 1997 was 6 m in 2004 (JC Raulston Arboretum database), and Dirr (1998) reports that in trials in Georgia it was the fastest-growing ×Cuprocyparis, averaging almost a metre a year for six years.