* Map courtesy of WikiMedia.org, it is release under the Creative Commons License.

Macnab Cypress

The Cupressus Macnabiana is commonly known as Macnab Cypress,

< Go Back

Growing Regions

MacNab cypress occurs only in California and has the widest distribution of any of the California cypress [14,27]. Numerous scattered groves occur in the inner North Coast Ranges, the Sierra Nevada foothills, and the Cascade Range [14,24,27]. Over 30 groves occur in the following counties: Sonoma, Napa, Yolo, Mendocino, Lake, Colusa, Tehama, Shasta, Butte, Nevada, Yuba, and Amador [27].

     

General Information

The currently accepted scientific name of MacNab cypress is Cupressus macnabiana Murr. [14,18,24]. There are no recognized infrataxa. Natural hybridization between MacNab cypress and Sargent cypress (Cupressus sargentii) has been hypothesized, but evidence for it is inconclusive [13,17,27].

MacNab cypress is a component of the northern interior cypress forest.
This community is an open, fire-maintained, scrubby forest similar to
the knobcone pine (Pinus attenuata) forest.  It is associated with
serpentine chaparral, and intergrades on less severe sites with upper
Sonoran mixed chaparral, montane chaparral, or knobcone pine forest
community types.  On more mesic sites the northern interior cypress
forest intergrades with mixed evergreen forest or montane coniferous
forest [11].  MacNab cypress is associated with redwood (Sequoia
sempervirens)-Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forest and associated
North Coast forests in Mendocino County, California [6,26].  It is also
commonly associated with chaparral and pine-oak (Pinus-Quercus spp.)
woodland species [8,27].  The Magalia grove in Butte County is
surrounded by yellow pine forest (Pinus ponderosa and P. jeffreyi) [27].
MacNab cypress occurs sympatrically with Sargent cypress in Lake County,
California [16].

Publications naming MacNab cypress as a community dominant are listed below.

Terrestrial natural communities of California [9]  
Terrestrial vegetation of California [27]

Species not previously mentioned but commonly associated with MacNab
cypress include gray pine (Pinus sabiniana), sugar pine (P.
lambertiana), incense-cedar (Libocedrus decurrens), California scrub oak
(Quercus dumosa), leather oak (Q. durata), interior live oak (Q.
wislizenii), valley oak (Q. lobata), Sierra coffeeberry (Rhamnus rubra),
California coffeeberry (R. californica), yerba santa (Eriodictyon
californicum), chaparral pea (Pickeringia montana), golden-fleece
(Haplopappus arborescens), Garrya congdonii (interior silktassel),
California hop tree (Ptelea crenulata), chamise (Adenostoma
fasciculatum), wedgeleaf ceanothus (Ceanothus cuneatus), musk brush (C.
jepsonii), whiteleaf manzanita (Arctostaphylos viscida), creeping sage
(Salvia sonomensis), and styrax (Styrax officinalis var. californica)
[6,24,26,27].

Much of the information presented here is attributed to:
Esser, Lora L. 1994 Cupressus macnabiana. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available at USDA Forest Service.

< Go Back