Cordilleran Cypress

It is a member of subfamily Callitroideae, a group of distinct southern hemisphere genera associated with the Antarctic flora. It is closely related to the New Zealand and New Caledonian genus Libocedrus, and some botanists treat it within this genus, as Libocedrus chilensis, though it resembles Libocedrus less than the other South American cypress genus Pilgerodendron does.

Cordilleran Cypress is found in the evergreen mountain forests of the Andes, usually on drier sites within the rainforest, in open pure woods (where it is often locally dominant on the eastern slopes of the Andes in southwestern Argentina) or in association with Araucaria araucana and Nothofagus species. It has been introduced to northwest Europe and the Pacific Northwest of North America, where it is occasionally grown in botanical gardens.. More