Cupressus L.
This genus includes some 19 species distributed throughout the temperate and subtropical zones of the Northern Hemisphere. In North Africa, this genus is comprised of 3 species, geographically very far from each other, but so close morphologically that some authors do not justify the separation at specific level. C. sempervirens and C. atlantica grow in the Mediterranean region and C. dupreziana in the central Sahara, where it still survives as one of the last vestiges of Mediterranean vegetation in the region.
Abdoun, F. & Beddiaf, M. 2002. Cupressus dupreziana A. Camus, répartition, dépérissement et régénération au Tassili n’Ajjer, Sahara Central. Comptes Rendus Biologie. 325: 617-627.
Abdoun, F. & Gardner, M.F. 2016. Cupressus dupreziana var. dupreziana, from the website, Threatened Conifers of The World (http://threatenedconifers.rbge.org.uk/taxa/details/99).
Abdoun, F., Jull, A.J.T., Guibal, F. & Thinon, M. 2005. Radial growth of the Sahara’s oldest trees: Cupressus dupreziana A. Camus. Trees 19, 6: 661-670.
Barry, J.P. et al., 1970. Essai de monographie du Cupressus dupreziana A.Camus, Cyprès endémique du Tassili des Ajjer (Sahara Central). Bulletin de la Société d’Histoire Naturelle de l’Afrique du Nord, 61: 95-178.
Benhouhou, S., Boucheneb, N., Sahli, F. & Idrissa Yaou, A. 2005. Le cyprès du Tassili : caractérisation floristique et écologique = Floristic and ecological characterisation of the Tassili cypress. Sécheresse.
16(1) : 61-66.
Silba, J. 1998. A monograph of the genus Cupressus L. Journal of the International Conifer Preservation Society 5(2): 1-98.
Key to species
1 Branchlets arranged in a flattened fashion, more or less compressed. Central Saharan species Cupressus dupreziana
1 Branchlets little or not flattened or compressed. Species of Mediterranean forests 2
2 Leaves dark green. Strobili large, generally ovoid (2.5-4 cm) Cupressus sempervirens
2 Leaves glaucous, whitish-green. Strobili smaller, generally rounded (1.8-2.5 cm) Cupressus atlantica
Updated by: G. Benítez, J. Molero Mesa & J. Charco.