Is a Leyland Cypress a Monocot or Dicot?

Leaves

• Dicot leaves have veins that branch out. The leaves of Oak trees (genus Quercus) and maple trees (genus Acer) are examples. Monocot leaves have parallel veins -- grass blades are examples. Flattened, needle-like or awl-shaped conifer leaves also have parallel veins. Pointed Leland cypress leaves are soft, dark blue-green with parallel veins typical of conifers. Leyland cypress is evergreen, as are most coniferous species.

Seeds

• Dicots and monocots are believed to share common ancestors, while conifers evolved separately. There are hundreds of thousands of dicot and monocot species but less than 500 conifer species. Dicots and monocots are angiosperms -- that is, they produce fruits that contain seeds. Cherry pits (Prunus avium) are dicot seeds; watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) seeds are monocot seeds. Coniferous seeds typically develop inside cones, although the seeds in some species come in a small, berry-like form. The seeds in the cones are “naked,” not covered with flesh. When the cones mature they open and release the seeds to be blown by the wind or carried away by birds. Leyland cypress is a sterile hybrid of Monterey cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa) and Alaska cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkiatensis). Although Leland cypress yields a dry, hard cones less than 1/2 inch wide, it is sterile for practical purposes and must be propagated vegetatively by rooting cuttings.

Wood

• Vascular bundles carry nutrients throughout plants. Xylem carry water and nutrients from the soil upward to the branches and leaves. Phloem carry nutrients made by leaves or needles through photosynthesis to the rest of the tree. Vascular bundles in dicots and Leyland cypress grow in rings. Vascular bundles in monocots are scattered throughout their stems.

Roots

• Dicot roots grow from the radicle, the primary root that grows from the bottom of seeds when they germinate. Monocot roots are adventitious, meaning they may be aerial or grow from the leaves, branches or stem of a plant. Leyland cypress roots grow in the same manner as dicots, that is they spread out from a primary root.