39. Cupressus torulosa D. Don CUPRESSACEAE

Twisted cypress

When Hugh Cleghorn was surveying the timber resources of the Western Himalaya in the early 1860s, he noted that this species had useful wood, but was uncommon. Confusingly, this species was also known to the locals there as ‘deodar’. Its native distribution is from Kashmir to Central Nepal. These two specimens, which show the columnar growth form typical of the species, are grown from seed collected in Nepal by Tony Schilling.

Lithograph of Cupressus torulosa from Lawson’s Pinetum Britannicum