Cypress is the name applied to many plants in the cypress family Cupressaceae, which is a conifer of northern temperate regions. Most cypress species are trees, while a few are shrubs. Most plants bearing the common name cypress are in the genera Cupressus and Chamaecyparis, but several other genera in the family also carry the name.
Cupressus sempervirens is famous for its longevity, and has been a popular garden plant for thousands of years.
The word "cypress" is derived from Old French "cipres", which was imported from Latin "cyparissus," the latinisation of the Greek κυπάρισσος (kyparissos).
- African Cypress (Widdringtonia species)
- Bald, Pond, and Montezuma Cypresses (Taxodium species, native to North America)
- Chinese Swamp Cypress (Glyptostrobus pensilis)
- Cordilleran Cypress (Austrocedrus chilensis)
- Cypress (Callitropsis species)
- Cypress (Cupressus species)
- Cypress-pines (Actinostrobus species)
- Cypress-pines (Callitris species)
- False Cypress (Chamaecyparis species)
- Fujian Cypress (Fokienia hodginsii)
- Guaitecas Cypress (Pilgerodendron uviferum)
- Patagonian Cypress (Fitzroya cupressoides)
- Siberian Cypress (Microbiota decussata)
The Cupressaceae family also contains 13-16 other genera (not listed above) that as of yet do not bear cypress in their common names.
The word cypress is also used as a descriptor for the angiosperm vine in the bindweed family Convolvulaceae, known as the Cypress vine (Ipomoea quamoclit).
The plant called "summer cypress" is Bassia scoparia (Amaranthaceae).
Famous quotes containing the word cypress:
“When I am dead, my dearest, Sing no sad songs for me;
Plant thou no roses at my head, Nor shady cypress tree:
Be the green grass above me With showers and dewdrops wet;
And if thou wilt, remember, And if thou wilt, forget.”
—Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830–1894)
“It was a green world,
Unchanging holly with the curled
Points, cypress and conifers,
All that through the winter bears
Coarsened fertility against the frost.”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
“For I thought of her grave below the hill,
Which the sentinel cypress tree stands over,
And I thought, “Were she only living still,
How I could forgive her, and love her!””
—“Owen” “Meredith” (1831–1891)