Cypress, Modoc

Description:

Modoc cypress is a rare species of western cypress that only grows in 11 widely scattered locations in the Klamath-Siskiyou and Cascade Mountain ranges in southern Oregon and northern California. It has the northernmost range of any native cypress in the world. Modoc cypress is most often found growing on serpentine soils in the wild, but not exclusively, and it takes well to variety of soils in the horticultural setting. Modoc cypress typically grows in mixed conifer forests and is usually found in small, scattered populations at elevations between 2,000-6,500′. It is native to the land of the Modoc people, hence its common name.

Modoc cypress has evergreen, scale-like needles with distinctive resin dots and bluish-green, glaucous, and aromatic foliage. The foliage is airy and the branches are often crooked. The rounded cones are bumpy with hook-like umbos. When trees are young they will have smooth, silvery bark, but when they are older the bark separates into long, thin scales with age and becomes more reddish-brown and flaky.

This species is highly fire adapted. In locations, such as the Seiad-Baker Cypress Botanical Area on the Klamath National Forest, where the stands have had repeat hot fire, the Modoc cypress population has been expanding, but in other groves where human fire suppression has not allowed fire to burn through in a very long time, the populations are not expanding. Modoc cypress’ serotinous cones are most often opened during wildfire, when heat melts the resins and opens the cones and releases the seed.

Grow in full sun to part-shade with dry to medium soil moisture, Modoc cypress can take regular summer water, and as a result, will grow faster as long as the soil has good drainage. It can, however, tolerate extremely dry conditions, but will grow slower in these situations. It typically grows 20-100′ tall, depending on site conditions.