Monterey Cypress

Scientific Name:
Hesperocyparis macrocarpa
Description

Medium (over 24 m/80 ft tall) coniferous evergreen (green year-round) with small, bright green, scale-like leaves and twisted branches and trunks.

Behaviors

This tree is coniferous, which means it reproduces using cones. The Monterey cypress only exists natively (without human interference) in Point Lobos State Natural Reserve and Pescadero Point in Pebble Beach. These trees can live to be 300 years old or more.

Fun Facts

The most famous example of this species is Pebble Beach’s “Lone Cypress,” which grows alone on a rocky point. It is considered to be one of the most photographed trees in the world. The “Old Veteran” is another famous example of a Monterey Cypress tree; find it on the Old Veteran spur of the Cypress Grove Trail in Point Lobos!

Nature Topics
Plants and Geology, Trees, Plant Communities

Habitat

Feeding

Further Reading

Visitors to Point Lobos are familiar with the Monterey cypress (formerly Hesperocyparis macrocarpa), perhaps the terrestrial symbol of the reserve. We see the cypress all around the Monterey peninsula and forget how unique it is. There are only two native stands: one at Allan Memorial Grove in Point Lobos and the other at Crocker Grove in Pebble Beach. California lists it as a Category 1 rare and endangered species, but since it is widely planted as a landscape tree, it is not on the federal list of endangered species – the federal list does not distinguish between natural populations and planted specimens.

Cypresses in the Allan Memorial Grove at Point Lobos are especially valuable because of their isolation from planted cypresses originating from other areas. As close as Pebble Beach is to Point Lobos, there are genetic differences between the two populations and minor variations in cone structure. Because they are surrounded by a residential area, cypresses in the Del Monte Forest (Pebble Beach) are also more likely to hybridize with cypresses planted as landscape trees. Monterey cypresses typically live 200 or more years; individual trees could possibly live as long as 400 years.

Related Media
Rare
Photo of Monterey Cypress trees growing out of a rocky cliff on the North Shore Trail at Point Lobos.

Monterey Cypress trees growing out of a rocky cliff on the North Shore Trail at Point Lobos. Photo by Ernie Long. 

Photo of Weathered Monterey Cypress

Weathered Monterey Cypress at Point Lobos. Photo by Fred Brown.

Tall Monterey cypress trees with thick, twisted trunks stand in a dense coastal grove as sunlight streams through the branches, casting long shadows across the forest floor.

Photo credit: ©Kip Evans

Photo of female seed cones of the Monterey Cypress tree.

Female seed cones of the Monterey Cypress tree. Photo by Castel Ortiz.

Photo of Monterey Cypress trees ringing Cypress Cove at Point Lobos.

Monterey Cypress trees ringing Cypress Cove at Point Lobos. Photo by Ernie Long. 

Monterey Cypress relies on

  • Line drawing on the sun

    Sun

  • Line drawing of a water drop

    Water

  • Line drawing of a plant above ground and its roots below ground

    Nutrients