CONIFEROUS FORESTS 



35i 



The Cypress (Taxodlum distichum) is one of our most interesting 

 trees, from several points of view, and a great deal has been written 

 about it. It ranges from Delaware and southwestern Indiana to Florida 

 (within two degrees of the Tropic of Cancer) and Texas, and is almost 



Cxpeess (Taxodiitm distichum) With Knees, in a Creek Swamp, Pickens Co., 

 Alabama. Taken in early spring when trees were leafless. February, 1913. 



confined to the coastal plain. It is usually abundant where it grows, 

 but more or less associated with other deciduous trees. 



This is a swamp tree, growing naturally only where the ground is 

 alternately dry and overflowed. It can stand flooding to a depth of 

 eight or ten feet for a few weeks at a time, and 25 feet for a few days, 

 but does not seem to grow on the immediate banks of the Mississippi 

 and other large rivers whose high-water periods last too long; except 

 near their mouths where the seasonal fluctuations are necessarily less 

 than they are farther up. Its occurrence on the banks of ox-bow lakes 

 which were once part of the Mississippi Eiver may therefore be used as 



