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Cupressus sempervirens L.

The tree is  20 meters tall and its circumference is of about 6.30 meters.

Cypresses are evergreens and have long lives. They belong to the Cupressaceae family. Cypress come from Eastern Mediterranean territories (Cyprus, Rhodes, Crete, Cyrenaica). They are thermophilous plants, which tolerate well aridity and salinity, while it is sensitive to cold and long winters. They have a tapering rooting system, but it is capable of adapting to not so deep soils developing surface and extended roots.
They are always planted in rows in Italy, along the entrance alleys of graveyards and they are mostly spread in Umbria and Tuscany where, together with olive trees, they participate to create the regions’ typical landscape. People used to use these trees in Emilia Romagna to make hilly reforestation activities, but the results were not so good because of the unsuitable climate conditions. During the fifties, the appearance of a cryptogamic pathology called “cortex cancer” endangered the life of this species and has encouraged floriculture’s researches in order to find immune species, which are now available on the market.
They are rich in various essential oils and are appreciated in pharmaceutical and make-up industries.
Their wood is resilient to woodworm attacks and also to water, because of this it is thought as a luxury manufacturing material, especially in the violin making and naval industry, for the construction of water crafts.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)