Chamaecyparis lawsoniana is a cypress in the genus
Chamaecyparis, family
Cupressaceae, known by the name
Lawson's Cypress in the horticultural trade, or
Port Orford-cedar in its native range (although not a true
cedar).
C. lawsoniana is native to the southwest of
Oregon and the far northwest of
California in the
United States, occurring from sea level up to 1,500 m (4,900 ft) altitude in mountain valleys, often along streams.
It is a large
evergreen coniferous tree, regularly reaching 50-70 m (200 ft) tall, with feathery foliage in flat sprays, usually somewhat glaucous blue-green in colour. The leaves are scale-like, 3-5 mm long, with narrow white markings on the underside, and produced on somewhat flattened shoots. The seed
cones are globose, 7-14 mm diameter, with 6-10 scales, green at first, maturing brown in early fall, 6–8 months after pollination. The male cones are 3-4 mm long, dark red, turning brown after pollen release in early spring. The bark is reddish-brown, and fibrous to scaly in vertical strips.
It was first discovered (by Euro-Americans) near
Port Orford in Oregon and introduced into cultivation in 1854, by collectors working for the Lawson & Son nursery in
Edinburgh,
Scotland, after whom it was named as Lawson's Cypress by the describing
botanist Andrew Murray. The
USDA officially calls it by the name Port Orford Cedar, as do most people in its native area, but as it is not a
cedar, many botanists prefer to avoid the name, using Lawson's Cypress, or in very rare instances Port Orford Cypress, instead to stop confusion. The horticultural industry, in which the species is very important, mostly uses the name Lawson's Cypress.
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