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Cupressus macrocarpa 'Lemon Yellow' (Lemon Cypress) - A beautiful upright pyramidal growing evergreen with cinnamon colored bark that ages to gray and bright yellow foliage that is strongly lemon scented. It will grow to 30 feet tall or more while remaining its conical shape.
Plant in full sun and irrigate occasionally.
This name we have long used for this plant is recognizably incorrect but it is the name our customers now know it as. It was given to us in 1999 by John Greenlee unnamed and we have long thought it a Cupressus macrocarpa selection but others disagreed, pointing out that it tolerates inland heat, which is unusual for Cupressus macrocarpa. For this reason we long just called it Cupressus 'Lemon Yellow' but when our stock plants finally coned, it became clear that the plant was a selection of Cupressus macrocarpa and so we added this specific epithet to the name. John Greenlee got the plant in the late 1990s from Allen C. Haskell Horticulturalists, Inc, a renowned nursery in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Around that same time we noted that Suncrest Nurseries in Watsonville was labeling this same plant as 'Citriodora'. Nevin Smith of Suncrest Nursery told us their plants came so named from Arie Lerner of Israel, who in turn told me that the plant is Cupressus macrocarpa 'Goldcrest' and it is under this name that this plant was awarded the Award of Garden Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society in 1993. There is also a plant in the trade called 'Wilma Goldcrest' that is a dwarf selection of 'Goldcrest'. Our oldest plant in the ground now exceeds the 30-foot height, but has retained its pyramidal shape and beautiful foliage color.
Recent genetic research has shown that the Western Hemisphere cypresses are a well-supported clade quite separate from the Eastern Hemisphere cypresses. For this reason a new genus, Hesperocyparis, has been erected for the New World cypresses while the Old World plants will retain Cupressus. We are currently leaving this plant as Cupressus until this change becomes widely accepted. For more information about this species see our listing for Cupressus macrocarpa.
This information about Cupressus macrocarpa 'Lemon Yellow' displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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