Native to Wales.
144 on the map, the #52 most common of 384 species.
Show Leyland cypress trees on the map
In 1888 at Leighton Hall, an estate in Wales, the hybrid cross occurred when the female flowers or cones of Yellow cedar were fertilised by pollen from Monterey cypress in gardens owned by Liverpool banker Christopher Leyland.
In 1925, a firm of commercial nurserymen specialising in conifers were looking for a breed which was fast-growing, and could be deployed in hard-to-grow windy and salty areas such as Cornwall. Eventually they found the six original trees developed by Leyland, and began propagating the species. Commercial nurseries spotted the plant’s potential, and for many years it was the biggest-selling item in every garden centre in Great Britain, making up to 10% of their total sales.