DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Cupressus goveniana | Gowen Cypress 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
Gowen cypress is restricted to the Coast Ranges of central and
northwestern California [14,22,26].  Gowen cypress (Cupressus goveniana
ssp. goveniana) occurs in only two areas of Monterey County, California:
Huckleberry Hill, and between San Jose Creek and Gibson Creek [26].
Mendocino cypress occurs in a narrow, discontinuous strip along the
Mendocino County coast known as the "Mendocino White Plains" or "pine
barrens" [26,27].  A grove also occurs in Sonoma County [26].  Gowen
cypress is cultivated in Hawaii [32].   


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES20  Douglas-fir
   FRES21  Ponderosa pine
   FRES27  Redwood
   FRES28  Western hardwoods
   FRES34  Chaparral - mountain shrub


STATES : 
     CA  HI


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
NO-ENTRY


BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
    3  Southern Pacific Border


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K006  Redwood forest
   K009  Pine - cypress forest
   K012  Douglas-fir forest
   K030  California oakwoods
   K033  Chaparral


SAF COVER TYPES : 
   229  Pacific Douglas-fir
   232  Redwood
   234  Douglas-fir - tanoak - Pacific madrone
   248  Knobcone pine
   255  California coast live oak


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Gowen cypress can occur in dense thickets as well as in open groves.
Dense thickets are common in regenerating burns [26].  In Monterey
County, Gowen cypress (Cupressus goveniana ssp. goveniana) and bishop
pine (P. muricata) form almost impenetrable thickets [16].  In some
areas Gowen cypress is associated with closed-cone coniferous woodlands
and closed-cone pine-cypress forests [5,24,26].  

Mendocino cypress is associated with redwood (Sequoia
sempervirens)-Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and other north coast
coniferous forests in Mendocino County [26].  This subspecies is also a
component of the Mendocino pygmy cypress forest, which intergrades with
upland redwood and Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis)-grand fir (Abies
grandis) forests [6].

Gowen cypress (C. g. ssp. goveniana) is a component of the Monterey
pygmy cypress forest, which intergrades with Monterey pine (Pinus
radiata) forest on deep soils [6].

Publications naming Gowen cypress as a community dominant are listed
below.  

Preliminary descriptions of the terrestrial natural communities of
  California [6]
The vascular plant communities of California [24]
The closed-cone pines and cypress [26]

Species not previously mentioned but commonly associated with Gowen
cypress include Monterey cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa), Mendocino White
Plains lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta ssp. bolanderi), shore pine (P.
c. ssp. contorta), valley oak (Quercus lobata), Coulter willow (Salix
coulteri), Monterey ceanothus (Ceanothus rigidus), glory brush (C.
gloriosus var.  exaltatus), waveyleaf ceanothus (C. foliosus), sandmat
manzanita (Arctostaphylos pumila), Hooker manzanita (A. hookeri), hairy
manzanita (A. columbiana), glossyleaf manzanita (A.  nummularia),
Eastwood manzanita (A. glandulosa), Pacific bayberry (Myrica
californica), giant chinquapin (Chrysolepis chrysophylla), salal
(Gaultheria shallon), Eastwood's goldenbush (Enceliopsis fasciculata),
chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum), evergreen huckleberry (Vaccinium
ovatum), Pacific rhododendron (Rhododendron macrophyllum), coast
Labrador tea (Ledum glandulosum var. columbianum), navarretia
(Navarretia atractyloides), skunkweed (N. squarrosa), bush monkeyflower
(Mimulus aurantiacus), evergreen violet (Viola sempervirens), pink sand
verbena (Abronia umbellata), Monterey sedge (Carex montereyensis),
California canarygrass (Phalaris californica), and beargrass
(Xerophyllum tenax) [6,7,16,24,26].

Related categories for Species: Cupressus goveniana | Gowen Cypress