Iranian long-lived cypress (Part one)

Cupressus sempervirens is native to Iran with three definite varieties. Pyramidal Italian cypress (Cupressus sempervirens L.var. fastigiata) is tall, evergreen with straight shoots, rising branches, and cylindrical crown. Cupressus sempervirens L.var. cereiformis has a cone-shaped crown but in horizontal cypress (Cupressus sempervirens L.var. horizontalis) the crown is long with a pyramidal shape. Cypress natural habitats are observed in Mazandran, Golestan, Gilan, Fars and Kohgiloye va Boyerahmad provinces. Over the past fifty years, they have been common in other parts of Iran because of their beauty and cultural reasons. There are many long-lived cypress individuals, mostly in Fars and Yazd provinces and to a less extent in Sistan va Balochestan, Isfahan, Kerman, Qom and Kohgiloye va Boyerahmad provinces. It is estimated there is about 100 long-lived cypress trees in Iran of which 56 trees have been studied to record their characteristics. These long long-lived cypress individuals have been recorded in 10 provinces, among which seven are described in this paper. It is expected to identify more long-lived cypress trees in future in other provinces, introduced in the next issues. The most numbers of long-lived cypress trees have been recorded in Fars province (22 individuals). Abarkooh cypress is the oldest long-lived cypress (4000 years old), followed by Sangan and Gooshe cypress (almost 3000 years old).