The cypress tree now grows in four dozen countries and on every continent except Antarctica, favoring areas with Mediterranean-like climates (CABI Compendium 2022).Ĭupressus sempervirens grows in two major forms: a spreading, horizontal form, and the more familiar columnar or fastigiate shape. However, this range is generally believed to span the Eastern Mediterranean: Crete, Cyprus, the eastern Aegean Islands, south-western Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Jordan, probably north-eastern Libya, and locations in northern and southern Iran (Sekiewicz et al. The species has been introduced to so many geographic areas that it is difficult to conclusively identify its native range. sempervirens originated in the Pliocene epoch some 5.3 to 2.6 million years ago (Bagnoli et al. Genetic analysis indicates that the lineage specific to C. Fu), Bhutan cypress ( Cupressus cashmeriana Royle ex Carrière), and Saharan cypress ( Cupressus dupreziana A. Other species currently placed within Cupressus include the Tibetan cypress ( Cupressus gigantea W.C. The taxonomy of the Cupressus genus is fluid, as techniques such as DNA analysis reveal different relationships among species (Little 2006 Terry et al. As Pangaea gradually separated into two parts roughly 150 million years ago, members of the subfamily Cupressoideae ended up mainly on the northern continent, Laurasia, which contained what would become North America, Greenland, Europe, and much of Asia (Mao et al. The first botanical family whose detailed evolutionary history traces the break-up of Pangaea (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München 2012), Cupressaceae is thought to have originated over 200 million years ago in the Triassic period of the Mesozoic era, when earth’s supercontinent was still intact. is a member of the family Cupressaceae, the subfamily Cupressoideae, and the genus Cupressus. Studies of other plant species might benefit from the holistic approach taken in this review.Ĭupressus sempervirens L. Identifying the precise timing and geographic location of the tree’s influence on human civilization is hampered by methodological challenges. For example, the number of varieties within the species remains inconclusive. Knowledge gaps in the scholarly literature on the species are identified, which require additional research in a variety of fields. Many of the artifacts, artworks, and literature known to be influenced by the cypress are iconic: the Gudea cylinders, the outer coffin of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, the poetry of Virgil and Ferdowsi, Istanbul’s Topkapi Palace, Shakespeare’s plays, and the paintings of Vélasquez and Van Gogh. The Mediterranean cypress has been used as timber for buildings, coffins, furniture, and statuary in religious and spiritual symbolism as ornamentals in gardens and cemeteries in aromatic anointments and medicine as literary metaphors and as motifs in decorative and fine art. This interdisciplinary review highlights the tree’s exemplary uses and meanings, starting in ancient Elam, Sumer, Egypt, and Persia, and continuing to the Graeco-Roman world, Islamic Empires, and Western Europe. The broad and deep economic and socio-cultural significance of the species began in at least the third millennium BCE. The Mediterranean cypress ( Cupressus sempervirens) is an evergreen conifer that belongs to the Cupressaceae, which is the first plant family whose detailed evolutionary history traces the break-up of the supercontinent Pangaea roughly 150 million years ago.
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