Introduction to the Cupressaceae

For many years the Cupressaceae and the Taxodiaceae were considered separate Conifer families only to be recently merged by botanists. The former Taxodiaceae represents the redwood family and is most famous for the Giant Sequoias, Sequoiadendron , that reside in the forests along the California and Oregan coastline. These massive trees are considered the largest living organisms on earth. The Cupressaceae are known as the Cypress family, (both before and after the merging of the families). Now merged, the Cypress family constitutes the largest of conifer families in terms of numbers of extant genera.

With these two families of conifers combined, they represent approximately 30 genera total, although the figure seems to vary from botanist to botanist. Some of the most imporant or common Cupressaceae groups are the Redwoods (or Sequoias), the Junipers, and the Cypresses. The redwoods are primarily composed of trees residing in the North America and Mexico and a few species in East Asia and Tasmania. The cypress trees live throughout the world but like many conifers, they are concentrated to North American forests. Junipers comprise some of the most widespread species of trees and can be found throughout the world yet primarily residing in the Northern hemisphere.

Follow the links below to find out more about the Cupressaceae or you can jump to the museum's web page on Conifers.

For more information about Cupressaceae on the web, visit University of Hawaii's Department of Botany's webserver on Cupressaceae or on Taxodiaceae .

Try these links to images of Cupressaceae and images of Taxodiaceae on the Texas A&M University server.

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