Austrocedrus chilensis - Chilean cedar description

Scientific name: Austrocedrus chilensis  (D.Don) Pichi Sermolli & Bizzarri  1978

Synonyms: Cupressus chilensis Gillies ex Hook., Cupressus thujoides Pav. ex Carrière, Libocedrus chilensis (D.Don) Endl., Libocedrus excelsa Gordon, Thuja andina Poepp., Thuja chilensis D.Don, Thuja cuneata Dombey ex Endl.

Common names: Chilean cedar (English), Ciprés de la Cordillera (Spanish)

Description

Tree to 20(-37) m tall, with trunk to 1.5(-2.5) in diameter or multistemmed tall shrub in arid steppes. Bark grayish tan. Branchlets sprays fanlike. Adult lateral leaves 2-4 mm long, facial leaves 0.5-1 mm long. Pollen cones 4-5 mm long. Seed cones 1-2 cm long, the outer pair of scales less than half as long as the fertile pair. Seeds 3-5 mm long, the larger wing extending the same distance beyond the tip of the seed.

Chile and adjacent Argentina, from 32 °S to 44 °S. Varied forests and woodlands, from Mediterranean climate woodland near Santiago (Chile), to moist montane forests at moderate elevations on either side of the Andes, to sparse dry woodlands bordering Patagonian steppe in Argentina; 250-1,800 m.

Conservation Status

Red List Category & Criteria: Near Threatened

Varieties:

Austrocedrus chilensis ‘Argentea’
Austrocedrus chilensis ‘Thornhayes Ghost’
Austrocedrus chilensis ‘Viridis Compacta’  

Attribution from: Conifers Garden