Himalayan cypress

Slender tsenden cypresses stand guard over Bhutan’s monasteries and dzongs – this is both a sacred tree and the national tree.

An evergreen conifer growing to 30–45 m, with a conical crown that becomes more spreading with age and fibrous bark with long vertical fissures. Its shoots are covered in tiny, scale-like leaves, and its fruits are small, round cones. It grows wild on steep, often limestone slopes in the temperate zone at about 1,800–3,500 m, but it is even more often seen planted beside temples, monasteries and dzongs. The aromatic shoots and wood are burned as incense.

Significance in the country

The cypress is Bhutan’s national tree; in Tibetan Buddhism it symbolises righteousness and steadfastness, which is why almost every dzong and monastery has ancient tsenden trees nearby.

Where it grows

In temperate valleys and on slopes in western, central and eastern Bhutan (Thimphu, Paro, Punakha, Wangdue, Trongsa, Bumthang, Lhuntse, Trashigang); absent from the hot districts along the border with India.

More: Wikipedia (en)