italian cypress bonsai tree Italian Cypress

From the tawny rolling hills of the Italian countryside to the famous canvasses of Van Gogh, the statuesque silhouette of the Italian Cypress (Cupressus sempervirens) appears as an unmistakable exclamation mark of beauty and formality in landscapes throughout the world. Native to southern Europe, the eastern Mediterranean region, and Asia, these tall, narrow, supremely vertical trees have been sought out by landscapers for millennia. Sometimes called Mediterranean Cypress, Tuscan Cypress, Graveyard Cypress, or Pencil Pine, Italian Cypresses are commonly deployed as formal sentinels at entryways, as living walls along property lines, and as softening agents planted next to tall buildings and hard urban edges. Today, Italian Cypresses are among the tree world's most cosmopolitan citizens — growing virtually any place where winter temperatures remain above 10°F.

C. sempervirens is a medium-sized coniferous evergreen (growing up to 115 feet tall) with a conic crown, level branches, and variably loosely hanging branchlets. The foliage grows in dense sprays, dark green in color. The leaves are scale-like, 2 to 5mm long, and produced on rounded shoots. The seed cones are ovoid or oblong, 25 to 40mm long. The male cones are 3 to 5mm long, and release pollen in late winter. It is a long-lived species, with some trees reported to be over 1,000 years old.

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