Cupressus bakeri

Jepson 1909

Common Names

Modoc, Baker or Siskiyou cypress (Peattie 1950). Subsp. matthewsi, if recognized, is the Siskiyou cypress.

Taxonomic Notes

Synonymy (Farjon 1998):

Cupressus bakeri Jeps. subsp. matthewsii C.B. Wolf 1948;
C. macnabiana A. Murray bis var. bakeri (Jeps.) Jepson 1923;
Cupressus bakeri Jeps. subsp. typica Wolf 1948.

Little (2006) has proposed, with strong support from molecular/genetic data, that Cupressus be divided into new world and old world genera. The new world species, which are more closely related to Juniperus than to the old world species, he assigns to Callitropsis Oersted; while the old world species remain in Cupressus L. This species would then become Callitropsis bakeri (Jeps.) D.P. Little.

Little (2006) has proposed, with strong support from molecular/genetic data (cf. Little et al. 2004), that Cupressus be divided into new world and old world genera, with the new world species assigned to the new genus Callitropsis Oersted. However, Farjon (pers. comm. 2007.10.02) reports that he has successfully petitioned the IBCN to conserve the name Xanthocyparis Farjon et Hiep against Callitropsis Oersted. This species could then be called Xanthocyparis bakeri (Jeps.) Farjon. However, this combination has not yet been published.

Description

"Trees to 30 m; crown broadly columnar, sparse. Bark smooth at first, later building up in layers. Branchlets decussate, 0.5-1.3 mm diam. Leaves with conspicuous, pitlike, abaxial gland that produces drop of resin, slightly glaucous. Pollen cones 2-3 × 2-2.5 mm; pollen sacs 3-5. Seed cones globose, mostly 1-2 cm, silvery, not glaucous; scales 3-4 pairs, usually covered with resin blisters, umbos often prominent, those of distal scales erect, to 4 mm. Seeds mostly 3-4 mm, light tan to medium brown, not glaucous to slightly glaucous" (Eckenwalder 1993).

Range

USA: Oregon and California at 1100-2000 m elevation in mixed evergreen forests of the Siskiyou Mountains; of conservation concern (Peattie 1950, Eckenwalder 1993). See also Thompson et al. (1999).

Griffin and Critchfield (1972) provide the following detail on this species' native occurrence: "The southern outposts of Baker cypress are in Plumas County. In 1924, H. F. Wilcox collected specimens near Wheeler Peak (Wagener and Quick 1963). This [1.2-ha] grove lies at [1980 m elevation]. [Eight km] to the north near Mud Lake is a larger stand that reaches up to [2100 m] within the [Abies magnifica] forest. These two stands are the highest-elevation localities of any California cypresses.

"Separated from Mud Lake by a gap of more than [96 km] of Sierra Nevada-Cascade terrain is a series of groves in the Burney Springs-Cypress Camp region of Shasta County. Here the cypresses are scattered in a huge brushfield within the Mixed Conifer Forest at elevations of [1370 to 1525 m]. An outlying colony of this population on the 'North Fork of South Fork of Cow Creek' (Sudworth 1908) was clearly described in a letter from J.C. LaPlant to Sudworth, but it seems to be extinct now (Griffin and Stone 1967).

"The largest Baker cypress population sprawls over some [2833 ha] of recent basalt near Timbered Crater (Stone 1965). This stand, near the corner of Modoc, Shasta, and Siskiyou Counties, ranges in elevation from [1065 to 1220 m]. It was discovered by Milo S. Baker in 1898. In 1909, Jepson described Baker cypress as a new species from Baker's specimen. Previously Baker cypress had been confused with the rather unrelated MacNab cypress.

"A [88-km] gap separates the Timbered Crater cypresses from the next population, on the north slope of Goosenest Mountain at about [1675 m] (Wolf 1948). About 40 miles farther north in the Cascades, near Prospect, Oregon, is the extreme northern limit of Baker cypress (Little 1970).

"Two groups of cypress populations are scattered across the Siskiyou Mountains-one in the Seiad Creek region of California and the second in the Miller Lake - Steve Peak area of Oregon (Wolf 1948). ... Baker cypress [also occurs] on the East Fork of Elk Creek, southeast of Happy Camp.

"The Sierra Nevada-Cascade groves are on various types of basic igneous rock. In contrast, the cypresses in the Siskiyou Mountains tend to grow on or near serpentine soils.

"Wolf segregated the groves in the Siskiyou Mountains and the Goosenest Mountain stand as ssp. matthewsii. Since Wolf did not know about the Prospect, Elk Creek, or Plumas County populations, they did not enter into the subspecies consideration."

Big Tree

Height 39 m, dbh 104 cm, crown spread 9 m, in Rogue River National Forest, OR (American Forests 2000).

Oldest

Dendrochronology

Ethnobotany

Observations

Little (1970) reports an accessible grove at Miller Lake, near Steve Peak in southeastern Josephine County, Oregon. Wolf (1948) adds that the grove is on the NE slope of Miller Pk., 0.5 mile E of Miller Lake, T.40N, R.5W, S.28, about 0.3 mile by 600 feet at an elevation of 5000-6000 feet. HERE is a Google Maps image of the area; there appears to be a logging road running to Miller Lake. Wolf assigns these trees to his subsp. matthewsi. He also suggest a good site to see his subsp. typica: the "timbered crater" site in Siskiyou County immediately adjoining the NE corner of Shasta Co., California, at T.38N, R.4E, S.2. These trees occur on lava beds in "a remarkably thrifty looking forest of Pinus ponderosa, P. attenuata, Juniperus occidentalis and Libocedrus decurrens."

Remarks

"The northernmost grove of cypress in the New World is a nearly pure stand of [0.8 ha] ... on the Rogue River National Forest [7.2 km] west of Prospect and about [48 km] northeast of Medford, Jackson County, Oregon. This isolated station was first reported in 1953 by Oliver V. Matthews, of Salem. An authority on Oregon Trees, he collected herbarium specimens (Matthews s.n., Sept. 30, 1953; UC, US), took photographs of the trees, and gave publicity in newapaper articles. "Flounce Rock Grove" had been known since 1926 but was considered to be a juniper. The trees reached a height of [23 m] and trunk diameter of [56 cm]. The exact locality is SE 1/4, SW 1/4. Sec. 33, T. 32 S., R. 2 E., the latitude 42°45' N., and the altitude, [1220 m]. The highway between Medford and Crater Lake National Park passes within [5 km] of this grove. However, the site is not readily accessible because of rough mountainous topography and absence of a trail. This locality represents a range extension of about [96 km] northeast from the Steve Peak area in the Siskiyou Mountains of southeastern Josephine County. ... The name Cupressus bakeri ssp. matthewsii C. B. Wolf (Aliso 1:83, figs. 3 C, 7 B, 22. 1948), Siskiyou cypress, was given to the northern populations. However, the characters in the key (p. 72-73) seem scarcely sufficient for division of the species into 2 varieties" (Little 1970).

"Reports of Cupressus from the State of Washington represent introductions. The Forest Service Herbarium has a specimen of Cupressus macrocarpa Hartw. from near Ilwaco, Pacific Co., about [16 km] N. of Columbia River, recorded by the collector Everett Miller as [60 cm] D.B.H. and "apparently native." My inquiry some years ago led to information about a plantation there. The coastal strip has a mild, subtropical climate" (Little 1970).

Citations

Jepson, W.L. 1909. A Flora of California, Vol. I, p. 61. http://www.cupressus.net/CUbakeriJepson.html, courtesy of the Cupressus Conservation Project website.