Nootka cypress

Appearance

Nootka cypress is native to the west coast of North America, from the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, south to the Klamath Mountains in northernmost California. It is typically occurring on wet sites in mountains, often close to the tree line, but sometimes also at lower altitudes.

''Cupressus nootkatensis'' is an evergreen tree growing up to 40 meters tall, commonly with pendulous branches. The foliage is in flat sprays, with dark green, 3–5 mm long scale-leaves. The cones have 4 scales, and resemble the cones of Mexican cypress fairly closely, except being somewhat smaller, typically 10–14 mm diameter; each scale has a pointed triangular bract about 1.5–2 mm long, again similar to other ''Cupressus'' and unlike the crescent-shaped, non-pointed bract on the scales of ''Chamaecyparis'' cones. The Caren Range on the west coast of British Columbia is home to the oldest Nootka cypress specimens in the world, with one specimen found to be 1,834 years old .

''Cupressus nootkatensis'' is one of the parents of the hybrid Leyland cypress; as the other parent, Monterey cypress, is also in genus ''Cupressus'', the ready formation of this hybrid is a further argument for the placement of the Nootka cypress close to ''Cupressus''.

Predators

In Alaska, where the tree is primarily referred to as "yellow cedar," extensive research has been conducted into large-scale die-offs of yellow cedar stands. These studies have concluded that the tree has depended upon heavy coastal snowpacks to insulate its shallow roots from cold Arctic winters. The impacts of climate change have resulted in thinner, less-persistent snowpacks, in turn causing increased susceptibility to freeze damage. This mortality has been observed over 7% of the species range, covering approximately 10 degrees of latitude from northern southeast Alaska to southern British Columbia. Substantial future mortality is likely due to warming temperatures and decreasing snowpacks. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is reviewing whether to designate the species as threatened or endangered.