Hesperocyparis macrocarpa
Environmental Weed (2024)
Common names
macrocarpa
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Gymnosperms
Flower colours
No flowers
Detailed description
Medium sized tree to about 36 metres. Has distinctive fluted trunk when mature, bark is thick, reddish brown beneath often becoming whitish on the surface. Adult foliage many small dark green scales closely appressed to the branchlets, but not flattened. Juvenile foliage more needle like, and not appressed. Male cones up to about 3 mm long, yellow and knobbly arising on the tips of the branches. Female cone terminal, rosette-like at first, becoming a rounded brown cone with 8–14 scales when mature. Seeds: usually 10–20 per cone scale.
Similar taxa
The scales closely appressed on mature plants, but stems not becoming flattened. There are several Hesperocyparis and Cupressus species in cultivation in New Zealand but H. macrocarpa is by far the most common, and can be identified by the blunt leaves lacking resin glands, and the shining brown mature cones.
Habitat
Terrestrial. regenerating bush and scrub near planted trees and hedgerows.
Conservation status
Not applicable
Threats
Capable of colonising coastal cliffs and analogous habitat (e.g. roadside cuttings).
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Synonyms
Cupressus macrocarpa (Hartw.) Bartel
Ecology
Year naturalised
1904
Origin
Monterey Peninsula, California, N. America
Reason for introduction
Forestry
Tolerances
Seedlings are moderately shade-tolerant but do best on sunny banks.
Life cycle and dispersal
Reproduces by seed; at least 150 seeds per mature female cone, estimated at least 10 000 cones per mature tree. Dispersed by people, wind, gravity.
Other information
Etymology
macrocarpa: Large fruit
Environmental Weed (2024)
This plant is named in a list of 386 environmental weeds in New Zealand 2024 prepared by DOC. 759 candidate species were considered for inclusion on this new comprehensive list of environmental weeds in New Zealand. The species considered were drawn from published lists of weed species, lists of plants that must be reported or managed by law if observed, existing national and regional programmes and agreements for pest management, and species already managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). Candidate species were then assessed to see if they were fully naturalised and whether they have more than minor impacts in natural ecosystems. Read the full report here.
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
HESMAC
Referencing and citations
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: Ogle, C. (Year at time of access): Hesperocyparis macrocarpa Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/hesperocyparis-macrocarpa/ (Date website was queried)