# Monterey Cypress (Hesperocyparis macrocarpa)

> Monterey cypress, Hesperocyparis macrocarpa: a large tree of 40 to 80 feet where planted, for zones 7 to 10, and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/monterey-cypress/

![A wind-shaped Monterey cypress with a dense, flat-topped crown above low coastal scrub](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/monterey-cypress-1000.jpg?v=249e7a57 "A Monterey cypress in Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, California, on January 18, 2019. Naturalists there estimate it lives up to 300 years.")
*Photo: Sharon Mollerus, [CC BY 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ACypress_Tree%2C_Point_Lobos_State_Natural_Reserve_1_18_19_%2846785268762%29.jpg))*

Large tree, 40 to 80 feet where planted, zones 7 to 10; full sun or part shade; dry or average ground.

We do not grow Monterey cypress, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.

## At a glance

| Fact | Monterey Cypress |
| --- | --- |
| Form | Large tree |
| Height, feet | 40 to 80 where planted; up to 89 in its native stands |
| Spread, feet | Up to 80 |
| Zones | 7 to 10 |
| Sun | Full sun or part shade |
| Soil moisture | Dry or average ground |
| Growth | Fast |
| Leaves | Evergreen |
| Traits | Wildlife value, hedge or screen, salt tolerant, erosion control |
| Pollen | February to March |
| Fruit | Cones, September to November |
| First crop | Under 10 years |
| Pollination | Not known whether one bears alone |
| Lifespan | Lives up to 300 years. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Toxicity | The foliage is poisonous to cattle and other livestock. |
| Ground | The coast, rocky ground and sandy barrens |
| Native in | 1 state |

Monterey cypress is native in 1 state: [California](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CA). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from the Fire Effects Information System and the Jepson eFlora.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=monterey-cypress): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=monterey-cypress): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=monterey-cypress&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree): the planting-distance tool
- [What grows with it in the wild and in a yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=monterey-cypress): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=monterey-cypress): the planting-window tool
- [When it sheds pollen and bears cones, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=monterey-cypress): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=monterey-cypress): the seed sowing planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=monterey-cypress): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=monterey-cypress): the tree age calculator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=monterey-cypress): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Chokecherry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/chokecherry/index.html.md) (*Prunus virginiana*): small tree, 20 to 30 feet, zones 2 to 10. Shares rocky ground in the wild.
- [More natives for this ground in the tree finder](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-finder/index.html.md?size=large-tree&sun=full&moisture=average)
- [Every companion of Monterey cypress in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=monterey-cypress)

## Read from

Its figures come from the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, NC State Extension, the Wildflower Center, Cal Poly's SelecTree, Oregon State University's Landscape Plants, Calscape, the Jepson eFlora and the Gymnosperm Database.