Jonathan Cohen's photos with the keyword: Cupressus macrocarpa

This is the Old Veteran Cypress tree on the North Shore Trail of the Point Lobos State Natural Reserve. The Old Veteran hunkers down on a cliff top, its trunk bleached nearly white, roots groping the air, branches splayed by the wind. If Van Gogh had painted a Monterey cypress, this is what you’d get. From the tree’s girth, you’d guess it’s 200 to 300 years old – but who really knows? Whatever its age, it adds gravitas to the already spellbinding landscape of Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, three miles south of Carmel.

The orange, velvety "stuff" especially noticeable on trees and rocks of the shadowed north-facing slopes at Point Lobos is a green algae named Trentepohlia. Its orange color comes from carotene, a pigment which also occurs in carrots, which mask the green of the chlorophyll. The growth of this algae does not harm the trees.

The orange, velvety "stuff" especially noticeable on trees and rocks of the shadowed north-facing slopes at Point Lobos is a green algae named Trentepohlia. Its orange color comes from carotene, a pigment which also occurs in carrots, which mask the green of the chlorophyll. The growth of this algae does not harm the trees.

The Monterey cypress, is a species of cypress native to the Central Coast of California. The native range of the species was confined to two small relict populations, at Cypress Point in Pebble Beach and at Point Lobos near Carmel, California. These cypresses, which formerly extended over a much wider range, withdrew to these fog-shrouded headlands as the climate changed with the close of the Pleistocene epoch 15,000 years ago. The outermost trees surviving in the teeth of salt spray and wind, their roots seeking nourishment in cracks and crevices, mirror the forces of nature and time. They are medium-sized coniferous evergreen trees, which often become irregular and flat-topped as a result of the strong winds that are typical of their native area. They grow to heights of up to 40 m in perfect growing conditions, and the diameter of their trunks can reach 2.5 m.

The Monterey cypress, is a species of cypress native to the Central Coast of California. The native range of the species was confined to two small relict populations, at Cypress Point in Pebble Beach and at Point Lobos near Carmel, California. These cypresses, which formerly extended over a much wider range, withdrew to these fog-shrouded headlands as the climate changed with the close of the Pleistocene epoch 15,000 years ago. The outermost trees surviving in the teeth of salt spray and wind, their roots seeking nourishment in cracks and crevices, mirror the forces of nature and time. They are medium-sized coniferous evergreen trees, which often become irregular and flat-topped as a result of the strong winds that are typical of their native area. They grow to heights of up to 40 m in perfect growing conditions, and the diameter of their trunks can reach 2.5 m.