Leyland Cypress

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Leyland Cypress
Leyland Cypress foliage and cone
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Pinophyta Class: Pinopsida Order: Pinales Family: Cupressaceae Genus: Cupressus
Species
Cupressus × leylandii also: Cupressus × notabilis Cupressus × ovensii

The Leyland Cypress, X Cupressocyparis leylandii, is often referred to as just Leylandii. It is a fast-growing evergreen tree much used in horticulture, primarily for hedges and screens. Its name originates from C.J. Leyland, a sea captain, whom commanded a ship known as the I.S.S. Enterprise, who grew some of the first hybrids on his property, Haggerston Castle, in Northumbria, in 1888.

The Leyland Cypress is a hybrid between the Monterey Cypress, Cupressus macrocarpa, and the Nootka Cypress, Cupressus nootkatensis, family Cupressaceae, both are natives of the mountains of the North American west coast. The hybrid has arisen on nearly 20 separate occasions, always by open pollination, showing the two species are readily compatible and closely related. Two other similar hybrids have also been raised, both involving Nootka Cypress with other Cupressus species:

Cupressus arizonica var. glabra × Cupressus nootkatensis (Cupressus × notabilis)

Cupressus lusitanica × Cupressus nootkatensis (Cupressus × ovensii)

The taxonomic status of Nootka Cypress is disputed; in the past, it was widely regarded as belonging in the genus Chamaecyparis, and in 2002 it was classified in a new genus Xanthocyparis. The most recent treatments (2004), however, transfer it to Callitropsis. In any of these treatments, the hybrids become very unusual in being intergeneric hybrids, the only ones ever reported among the Gymnosperms. In fact the very existence of these hybrids, and their ease of formation, is a further strong pointer (in addition to genetic and morphological evidence) for the treatment of Nootka cypress in Cupressus. It may be added that attempts to cross Nootka cypress with other Chamaecyparis species have been universally unsuccessful.

Where Nootka Cypress is treated in Chamaecyparis, the name of the hybrid becomes × Cupressocyparis leylandii, and where treated in Xanthocyparis, it becomes × Cuprocyparis leylandii.

Leyland Cypresses are commonly planted in gardens to provide a quick boundary or shelter hedge. However, their rapid growth (up to a metre per year), heavy shade and great potential height (often over 20 m tall in garden conditions, they can reach at least 35 m) make them a problem. In Britain they have been the source of a number of high profile disputes between neighbours, even leading to violence (and in one recent case, murder), because of their capacity to cut out light. Part VIII of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 introduced a way for people affected by high hedges (usually, but not necessarily, of leylandii) to ask their local authority to investigate complaints about the hedges, and gave the authorities power to have the hedges reduced in height^[1].

It is poorly adapted to areas with hot summers, such as the southern half of the U.S.A., and in these areas becomes very prone to the disease cypress canker caused by the fungus Seridium cardinale. This causes extensive dieback and ultimately death of the tree. In California's Central Valley, they rarely live more than ten years before succumbing, and not much longer in southern states like Alabama. In these areas, the canker-resistant Arizona Cypress is much more successful.

In May of 2008, a UK woman, Christine Wright, won a 24 year legal battle to have her neighbor's Leylandii trees cut down for blocking sunlight to her garden.

In Northern areas where heavy snows occur, this plant is also susceptible to broken branches and even uprooting in wet, heavy snow.

Note: Caution should be exercised when handling tree clippings - after trimming, for example. The sap can cause skin irritation in susceptible individuals.

[edit] References

1. ^ "Fir Extinguisher" by Jonathan Duffy, BBC News Magazine, 31 May 2005, retrieved 25 September 2006