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A word of caution

latymer@ctv.es
Hugo Latymer   Spain   Zone 9      

The tree possibly more used in the Mediterranean than any other and the one
that is most evocative of the Mediterranean landscape is surely the Italian
cypress, Cupressus sempervirens stricta. One of its primary uses here is to
form a screen or windbreak, when it is planted in long lines a metre or two
appart, often close to houses. Pero cuidado. Towards the end of a dry
summer these trees are about as flamable as aviation gasoline. A few years
ago someone on the nursery threw down a cigarette butt still alight. This
fell in some short dry grass and a wind carried it to a line of cypresses
on our boundary. The result was spectacular. Trees 15m. high caught fire
from top to bottom in 5 seconds: you could almost say that they exploded,
and the whole line was consumed in minutes. Fortunately no houses were
damaged, but we were very worried for a short while. Many Junipers burn
nearly as well. After apalling fires in Los Angeles and other places in
California, in the south of France and even on this island, a word of
caution might be in order  to those who, new to the area, are not aware of
the danger inherent in these lines of trees.
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