A cypress named after an Edinburgh nursery firm, the parent of hundreds of golden and blue-green garden cultivars
Lawson cypress.
Nature · Trees
Lawson cypress
Neophyte (introduced 1854) · evergreen conifer to 45 m · parks, churchyards, gardens and hedges
Chamaecyparis lawsoniana — Cupressaceae
A Californian and Oregon cypress introduced in 1854 and named after the Edinburgh nursery of Peter Lawson and Son. It gave rise to hundreds of garden cultivars and is a staple of churchyards and hedges. In its native range it is now Near Threatened, and in Britain it is being killed by the root pathogen Phytophthora lateralis.
How to know it
How to spot them
- ▸Flat sprays of tiny scale leaves held in one horizontal plane, drooping at the tip of each branch
- ▸White markings on the underside of the foliage, in patterns like X or Y shapes
- ▸Crushed foliage smells of parsley or resin
- ▸Round, pea-sized cones, rarely more than 1 cm across, ripening from blue-green to brown
- ▸Top of the tree nods over; trunk often forks; vertically plated bark
- ▸Look-alike: Leyland cypress has irregularly held sprays, not held in one plane, no white markings and larger cones, and no drooping tip.
How to know it
Its flat sprays droop at the tip, and the crushed foliage smells of parsley
Lawson cypress.
Pea-sized round cones ripen from green to brown on this evergreen introduced from California in 1854
Lawson cypress.
Its alternative common name mentions an Oregon port; its light strong wood is prized in Japan for shrines and used for guitars
Lawson cypress.
A water mould first reported in the UK in 2010 turns its foliage rust-red and kills the tree
Lawson cypress. Phytophthora lateralis.
Now listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN, chiefly because a root disease has killed it in its native range
Lawson cypress.
Quick-fire facts
- •Chamaecyparis lawsoniana — Chamaecyparis means ground cypress; the epithet honours Peter Lawson's Edinburgh nursery
- •Introduced in 1854 by William Murray (Forest Research); Woodland Trust says 1854 too, and names Charles Lawson (1795–1873), whose father founded the nursery
- •Also called Port Orford cedar
- •Naturalised on banks, walls and woodland margins throughout lowland UK (Woodland Trust), but not treated as invasive
- •Phytophthora lateralis was first reported in the UK in 2010 and is now present in all four countries; it usually kills the trees it infects (Forest Research)
- •P. lateralis is notifiable in the plant trade; other hosts include Sawara cypress and western red cedar
- •Wood is strong and light, valued in Japan for coffins and shrines; used for arrow shafts and guitars
- •IUCN status: Near Threatened
Drill it — 7 cards
1 / 7new card
Sources
- Woodland Trust — Lawson cypress (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana)
- Forest Research — Lawson cypress (LC)
- Forest Research — Phytophthora lateralis