Learning Gymnosperms: Chamaecyparis Cones

Very little in plant identification is easy:  so many terms, so much intraspecific variation, such subtle differences, and such minute characteristics to try to examine, even a hand lens is sometimes insufficient. If those challenges weren't enough, one huge roadblock is the frequent need for reproductive parts.

Conifers are no different than any other plant group in the fact that reproductive parts greatly improve the ability to correctly identify a conifer to genus and species. In my attempt to learn more gymnosperms, I blundered upon a tree that superficially looked like it might belong in the genus Thuja.  This tree is on the path of my daily dog walk, and I have never paid enough attention to realize that the tree had cones: very tiny globular cones.  If I hadn't noticed the cones, I would never have realized that this tree didn't belong in the genus Thuja.  These are not the best pictures, but they give you some idea of how different these cones are from the cones of Arborvitae.

Feeling overwhelmed isn't a nice feeling, and it is very easy to feel overwhelmed when trying to become better at plant identification. In some ways, conifers are a good group to tackle. Some of their nice features are that they often have green tissue year-round, and their cones are present much longer than most angiosperm flowers.  (In defense of angiosperm tree identification - I've learned that twig characteristics are at least, possibly more, reliable than leaf characteristics so winter identification is possible even without leaves.) There are many fewer families and genera of conifers to sort through than genera and families of flowering plants.  I suppose one disadvantage to learning conifers is that there are so many cultivated conifers: artificial breeding and selection by humans have led to stunning differences in size and structure even within the same species, and furthermore, many conifers are planted in areas very far from their native range. With regards to intraspecific variation in cultivated conifers:  It was quite a shocker for me to peruse the Encyclopedia of Conifers: A Comprehensive Guide to Cultivars and Species by Auders and Spicer!  This encyclopedia has lovely pictures and descriptions, and I recommend it to anyone.

Here's a very simple key that nicely separates Chamaecyparis from other conifers:
https://www.amnh.org/learn/biodiversity_counts/ident_help/Text_Keys/conifer_key.htm