NOTES ON THE BALD CYPRESS. H 



PKESENT DISTRIBUTION OF THE TAXODIUM DISTICHIUM. 



As this species is the last remnant of what was once a very cosmopolitan 

 genus, it is worth our while to consider its present limitations of the form. 

 I shall therefore give a brief synopsis of the present limits of the species 

 as far as I have been able to ascertain them. 



Although singularly limited in its station, the swamp cypress neverthe- 

 less endures a wider range of climate than man}'- of our forest trees that 

 occupy a great range of soils and of exposures. The northernmost point 

 where it now exists is central New Jersey. In this district it is apparently 

 in its decadence — the individuals few and much smaller than those which 

 lie buried in the swamps of that district. Its northern limit in this district 

 does not seem to dejiend upon its endurance of cold, as it is not killed by 

 much lower temperatures than it finds in the swamps of New Jersey. Xo 

 trace of this species has ever been found in the ancient swamps that are so 

 frequently excavated in New England, although they are said to be abund- 

 ant in New Jersey. This leads us to the conclusion, that since the last 

 glacial period it has never extended farther north along this shore than 

 the last-named district. 



Southward from New Jersey we find it sparsely distributed until we 

 come to the district south of the James river. Here we enter upon exten- 

 sive forests of this tree, and it appears afterwards at any point affording 

 favorable conditions for its growth along the whole Atlantic coast. 



In Yii'ginia it does not occur much beyond the limits of the swamps that 

 lie within a height of fifty feet above tide-water. The swampy borders of 

 the inland streams are not occupied by it. In this region it struggles very 

 little beyond the limits of the shore swamps. 



In the Carolinas its westerly extension somewhat increases, yet its limi- 

 tation to the region within about one hundred, feet above fide-water remains 

 a marked feature. 



In Georgia the limits of the species are again forced nearer to the sea 

 by the greater general height of the surface of the country. 



In Florida the species is said to be common throughout the length and 

 breadth of the peninsula. 



In Alabama and Mississippi the cypress follows all the stream borders 

 much farther into the uplands than on the Atlantic slope. It is com- 

 mon in all the swamps in those States. 



