Plant in full sun and given occasional to infrequent irrigation. This tree is drought tolerant with a cold hardiness down to at least 10 degrees F.

Cuyamaca Cypress is one of the rarest of named cypresses and was only known to grow naturally in the headwaters of King Creek on the southwest side of Cuyamaca Peak, in San Diego County with only thirty to forty individual older trees remaining after the Cedar Fire that burned 273,246 acres in October and November 2003, giving this plant the IUCN Red List listing as a Critically Endangered species. The epithet honors J. Burt Stephenson, the district ranger at the U.S. Forest Service Descanso Station in Alpine, California, who collected specimens in the 1930 that were distributed to herbariums. One of Stephenson's specimens attracted the attention of Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden botanist Carl Brandt Wolf, who collected the type specimen at 4,000 feet along King Creek in the Cuyamaca Mountains and described the species in 1948, naming it for Mr. Stephenson.

Recent genetic research has shown that the Western Hemisphere cypresses are a well-supported clade that are quite separate from the Eastern Hemisphere species. For this reason, a new genus, Hesperocyparis, has been erected for the New World cypresses while the Old World plants will retain the name Cupressus. We are currently leaving this plant as Cupressus until this change becomes widely accepted. 

The information about Cupressus stephensonii displayed on this web page is based on our research conducted in the nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also include 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 we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing this plant.