Fitzroya cupressoides

Botanical Description

Fitzroya cupressoides is an evergreen tree with a slender crown; it can grow 40 - 50 metres tall, though it is often much smaller in cultivation. The straight, cylindrical bole can be buttressed in old individuals; it is up to 120cm in diameter (one report says it cam reach 300 - 500cm[ 2124 Title A Handbook of the World's Conifers Vol. 1 (Second revised edition) Publication Author Farjon A. Publisher Brill; Leiden, The Netherlands Year 2017 ISBN 978 90 04 32449 7 Description ]) and is free of branches for up to 25 metres. Plants often produce root suckers[ 11 Title Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Publication Author Bean. W. Publisher Murray Year 1981 ISBN - Description A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures. , 316 Title Tropical Timbers of the World. Ag. Handbook No. 607. Publication Author Chudnoff. Martin. Publisher USDA Forest Service. Wisconsin. Year 1984 ISBN Description Terse details on the properties of the wood of almost 400 species of trees from the Tropics. , 2124 Title A Handbook of the World's Conifers Vol. 1 (Second revised edition) Publication Author Farjon A. Publisher Brill; Leiden, The Netherlands Year 2017 ISBN 978 90 04 32449 7 Description ]. The tree yields a valuable timber, for which it has been heavily exploited since Europeans arrived in S. America. Many lowland stands have been extirpated and, although the tree is officially protected in many areas, it still continues to be exploited. It is sometimes grown as an ornamental. There has been an estimated reduction in the quality of habitat across this plant's total range of more than 50% during the last three generations, which is suspected to equate to a population reduction of 50% over that time period. In Chile, where most of the population occurs, this is very evident in the Coastal Cordillera where most of the Alerce forests comprise secondary forest that is the result of fire, logging and damage to trees from bark stripping for caulking purposes. The majority of the Andean forests been impacted in similar ways. The decline in habitat quality is ongoing as illegal logging continues and deliberately set fires re-occur. The plant is classified as 'Endangered' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2013)[ 338 Title IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Publication Author Website http://www.iucnredlist.org/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat. ].