74. College Cypress
Cheltenham’s shapely conifer is an American surrounded by Victoriana, nevertheless, it reminds me of Van Gogh’s mediterranean cypresses.
Holding its own among the cedars on Cheltenham College’s Bath Road lawn is a rather more unusual conifer. Like the nearby Atlas cedar, this flame-shaped Arizona smooth bark cypress has glaucous, or blue-grey foliage, only it is constructed in a completely different way: the inquisitive will notice it is scaly and three-dimensionally branched. Look out for small round cones among the foliage, which will only open and disperse their seeds when triggered by fire.
Species details
Arizona smooth bark cypress
Cupressus arizonica var. glabra
Where to find it
Cheltenham College, Bath Road, Cheltenham GL53 7LD
///land.chase.homes | 51.891912, -2.076716
Arizona smooth bark cypress notes
The smooth bark variety of Arizona cypress (C. arizonica), is, unsurprisingly, distinguished by its smooth bark compared to the more furrowed bark of a regular Arizona cypress, something that many will have to take at face value. Neither the regular Arizona cypress nor the smooth bark variety are common, so comparisons in Britain or Ireland may be tricky. It also appears that in its native lands – a few locations in the southern US state of Arizona – its bark can be very striking, a feature trees in our relatively mild, damp climate have not developed. Still, trees here can be head-turning for their form (akin to Van Gogh’s paintings of European cypresses, like this one in New York’s Metropolitan Museum) and foliage colour, so let’s not get too greedy.
An interesting article - thank you. You might like to read more about Van Gogh's cypresses here.
https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/05/19/van-goghs-cypresses-are-the-focus-of-an-exhibition-opening-at-the-met-in-new-york