Italian Cypress (not our) Common Cypress European or Mediterranean Cypress Roman or Classical Cypress Funereal Cypress --TREES OF SEATTLE - SECOND EDITION Over here the predominant common name is Italian cypress. The flame-shaped ones like those shown are attributed to cultivar 'Stricta'. (Since they are somewhat bluish, they might actually be 'Glauca Stricta').
I should say as Michael that it could be a cupressus sempervirens but not an "Italian cypress" which is the cultivar "stricta" not seen on the photo. "Sticta" is very narrow.
Arguments over common names are futile. As for the cultivar 'Stricta', the situation seems quite complex. Many are seed-raised, so it is not clonal like most woody plant cultivars, and many purists therefore treat it at the level of forma, as f. stricta, or group (e.g. RHS Plant Finder). Behavior of columnar cypresses in response to different environments can be quite strange. Around here you certainly see the typical 'Stricta' form, maybe 30 ft/9 m tall but under 3 ft/1 m wide [trying to please both Ron & Michael here!]; but I know of several century-old trees that have broadened greatly with age, to at least 12 ft/3.6 m. I am sure I have seen pictures of similar trees in eastern Mediterranean landscapes, still quite distinct in habit from the presumed wild "horizontalis" type. I get the impression that the behavior of some Cupressaceae species (not cultivars) is unpredictable in cultivation. Some of our local Callitris species grow as dense columns in Sydney, even though the same ones are wide-branching in the wild. I suspect there are parallels in the old-world and new-world cypresses. Any comments on this suggestion?
First question is how they are propagated, horticultural clones with aberrant growth habits may be sold widely within a particular region (say, Britain and northern Europe or the Pacific Coast of North America) as the typical plant (wild species). With cypress family plants another thing that occurs is narrower, denser growth from the same species or clone under cooler, moister conditions than elsewhere. A. Mitchell noted that incense cedar was different on the rainy west coast of UK than in drier areas farther east; here Leyland cypress can be a close column or an open pyramid depending on which district it is planted in.
