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Cupressaceae or the cypress family is a family of . The family includes 27–30 genera (17 Monotypic taxon), which include the and , with about 130–140 species in total. They are Monoecy, Trioecy or (rarely) dioecious and up to tall. The bark of mature trees is commonly orange- to red-brown and of stringy texture, often flaking or peeling in vertical strips, but smooth, scaly or hard and square-cracked in some species. The family reached its peak of diversity during the Mesozoic era.
The seed cones are either woody, leathery, or (in Juniperus) berry-like and fleshy, with one to several ovules per scale. The bract scale and ovuliferous scale are fused together except at the apex, where the bract scale is often visible as a short spine (often called an umbo) on the ovuliferous scale. As with the foliage, the cone scales are arranged spirally, decussate (opposite) or whorled, depending on the genus. The are mostly small and somewhat flattened, with two narrow wings, one down each side of the seed; rarely (e.g. Actinostrobus) triangular in section with three wings; in some genera (e.g. Glyptostrobus and Libocedrus), one of the wings is significantly larger than the other, and in some others (e.g. Juniperus, Microbiota, Platycladus, and Taxodium) the seed is larger and wingless. The seedlings usually have two , but in some species up to six. The are more uniform in structure across the family, 1–20 mm long, with the scales again arranged spirally, decussate (opposite) or whorled, depending on the genus; they may be borne singly at the apex of a shoot (most genera), in the leaf axils ( Cryptomeria), in dense clusters ( Cunninghamia and Juniperus drupacea), or on discrete long pendulous panicle-like shoots ( Metasequoia and Taxodium).
Cupressaceae is a widely distributed conifer family, with a near-global range in all continents except for Antarctica, stretching from 70°N in arctic Norway ( Juniperus communis) to 55°S in southernmost Chile ( Pilgerodendron uviferum), further south than any other conifer species. Juniperus indica reaches 4930 m altitude in Tibet. Most habitats on land are occupied, with the exceptions of polar tundra and tropical lowland rainforest (though several species are important components of temperate rainforests and tropical highland ); they are also rare in , with only a few species able to tolerate severe drought, notably Cupressus dupreziana in the central Sahara. Despite the wide overall distribution, many genera and species show very restricted relictual distributions, and many are endangered species.
The world's largest ( Sequoiadendron giganteum) and current tallest ( Sequoia sempervirens) trees belong to the Cupressaceae, as do six of the ten longest-lived tree species.
The family is divided into seven subfamilies, based on genetic and morphological analysis as follows:
incertae sedis:
A 2010 study of Actinostrobus and Callitris places the three species of Actinostrobus within an expanded Callitris based on analysis of 42 morphological and anatomical characters.
Phylogeny based on 2000 study of morphological and molecular data. Several further papers have suggested the segregation Cupressus species into four total genera. (2025). 9781842460689, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ISBN 9781842460689.
A 2021 molecular study supported a very similar phylogeny but with some slight differences, along with the splitting of Cupressus (found to be paraphyletic):
Juniperus bermudiana was the key to Bermuda's shipbuilding industry, and used in building houses, and in furniture. It also comprised the habitat for other endemic and native species, and provided Bermudians with shelter from wind and sun.]] Many of the species are important timber sources, especially in the genera Calocedrus, Chamaecyparis, Cryptomeria, Cunninghamia, Cupressus, Sequoia, Taxodium, and Thuja. Calocedrus decurrens is the main wood used to make wooden pencils, and is also used in chests, paneling, and flooring. In China, cypress wood known as baimu or bomu, citing was carved into furniture, using notably Cupressus funebris, and particularly in tropical areas, Fujian cypress and the aromatic wood of Glyptostrobus pensilis. Juniperus virginiana has used by Native Americans for waymarking. Its heartwood is fragrant and used in clothes chests, drawers and closets to repel moths. It is a source of juniper oil used in perfumes and medicines. The wood is also used as long lasting fenceposts and for bows.
Several genera are important in horticulture. are planted as evergreen trees, shrubs, and groundcovers. Hundreds of have been developed, including plants with blue, grey, or yellow foliage. Chamaecyparis and Thuja also provide hundreds of dwarfing cultivars as well as trees, including Lawson's cypress. Metasequoia is widely planted as an ornamental tree because of its excellent horticultural qualities, rapid growth and status as a living fossil. Giant sequoia is a popular ornamental tree and is occasionally grown for timber. Giant sequoia, Leyland cypress, and Arizona cypress are grown to a small extent as .
Some species have significant cultural importance. The ahuehuete ( Taxodium mucronatum) is the national tree of Mexico. Coast redwood and giant sequoia were jointly designated the state tree of California, and are major tourist attractions where they grow naturally. Parks such as Redwood National and State Parks and Giant Sequoia National Monument protect almost half the remaining stands of Coast Redwoods and Giant sequoias. Bald cypress is the state tree of Louisiana. Bald cypress, often festooned with Spanish moss, of southern swamps are another tourist attraction. They can be seen at Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida. Bald cypress "Cypress knee" are often sold as souvenirs, made into lamps, or carved to make folk art. (2005). 9781565232716, Fox Chapel Publishing. ISBN 9781565232716 are often visited by tourists and photographers, particularly a tree known as the Lone Cypress.
The fleshy cones of Juniperus communis are used to flavour gin.
Native Americans and early European explorers used Thuja leaves as a cure for scurvy. Distillation of Fokienia roots produces an essential oil called pemou oil used in medicine and cosmetics.
Recent progress on Endophyte Biology in Cupressaceae, by the groups of Jalal Soltani (Bu-Ali Sina University) and Elizabeth Arnold (Arizona University) have revealed prevalent symbioses of endophytes and endofungal bacteria with family Cupressaceae. Furthermore, current and potential uses of Cupressaceous tree's endophytes in agroforestry and medicine is shown by both groups.
The heartwood, bark and Leaf are the tree parts richest in terpenes. Some of these compounds are widely distributed in other trees as well, and some are typical for Cupressaceae family. The most known terpenoids found in are sesquiterpenoids, and . Diterpenes are commonly found in different types of conifers and are not typical for this family. Some sesquiterpenoids (e.g. bisabolanes, cubenanes, guaianes, ylanganes, himachalanes, longifolanes, longibornanes, longipinanes, cedranes, thujopsanes) also present in Pinaceae, Podocarpaceae and Taxodiaceae. Meanwhile, chamigranes, cuparanes, widdranes and acoranes are more distinctive for Cupressaceae. Tropolone derivatives, such as nootkatin, chanootin, thujaplicinol and hinokitiol are particularly characteristic for Cupressaceae.
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