Cupressus Glabra 



sixteenth to one-eighth of an inch thick) 

 breaks up into small, curling plates, 

 which on all vigorous trees fall away dur- 

 ing the succeeding late autumn and win- 

 ter. The tree attains a height of from 

 thirt3^-five to fifty feet and a diameter of 

 eighteen to twenty inches. It is prob- 

 al^le that considerably larger trees oc- 

 cur. The branches, particularly of 

 younger trees, are strongly unright and 

 form a compact, narrowly oval or some- 

 what pyramidal crown. Old trees, 

 grown in the open, develop long lower 

 branches which, from their great 

 weight, are often much less upright 



than in old trees in a dense stand. 

 The spherical mature fruit is from 

 about seven-eighths to one and one- 

 eighth inches in diameter, and composed 

 commonly of six (exceptionally eight) 

 scales. • The scales are armed with con- 

 spicuous, incurved, somewhat flat- 

 pointed, bosses. The matured cones are 

 smooth, but conspicuously wrinkled and 

 covered with a deep, blue-gray bloom 

 which, when rubbed ofif, reveals a rich, 

 dark brown color ; very old cones are 

 ashy-gray. Cones of one season's 

 growth, also smooth, are often light 

 reddish-brown, but with areas of pale 



89 



