mediterranean cypress

Cupressus sempervirens

The Mediterranean cypress (also known as Persian cypress, or pencil pine) is a medium-sized coniferous evergreen tree. It is also known as the "drama tree" because of its tendency to bend with even the slightest of breezes. It is very long-lived, with some trees reported to be over 1,000 years old.The foliage grows in dense sprays, dark green in colour. The species name sempervirens comes from the Latin for 'evergreen'.

Mediterranean cypress has been widely cultivated as an ornamental tree for millennia away from its native range, mainly throughout the whole Mediterranean region, and in other areas with similar hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters, including California, southwest South Africa and southern Australia. It can also be grown successfully in areas with cooler, moister summers, such as the British Isles, New Zealand and the Pacific Northwest. It is also planted in Florida and parts of the coastal southern United States as an ornamental tree. In some areas, particularly the United States, it is known as "Italian" or "Tuscan cypress".

It is also known for its very durable, scented wood, used most famously for the doors of St.Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City, Rome. Cypress used to be used in distilleries as staves to hold mash ferments to make alcohol before the invention of stainless steel. In cosmetics it is used as astringent, firming, anti-seborrheic, anti-dandruff, anti-aging and as fragrance. It is also the traditional wood used for Italian harpsichords.