i6 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



AMERICAN FOREST TREES. 



Cypress. 

 Taxodium distichum (Linn.) — Rich. 



The commercial wood that is known as 

 cypress in this country is also commonly 

 called bald cypress. The name cypress has 

 been chiefly applied to trees of the genera 

 ChamcBcyparis, Cupressus and Taxodium. 

 Most species of the genus Chamwcyparis are 

 known as cypress. The Cupressus, while true 

 cypresses, have no significance in 

 America, but are important in 

 Europe. 



The single species of the genus 

 Taxodium, which is known in this 

 country as cypress, is not cypress. 

 but supplies the "cypress" wood of 

 commerce. In other words commer- 

 cial cypress is of the genus Taxo- 

 dium. It is of the pine family. In 

 shape it is conical, with spreading 

 branches. In height it ranges from 

 sixty to one hundred and fifty feet, 

 and its time of bloom is in April. 



The range of growth of bald 

 cypress is from southern Delaware 

 to Florida, westward to the Gulf 

 coast region of Texas, north 

 through Louisiana, Arkansas, east- 

 ern Mississippi and Tennessee, 

 southeastern Missouri, western Ken- 

 tucky and sparsely in southern Illi- 

 ri"i- and southwestern Indiana. 



It is commonly known as bald 

 cypress in Delaware, North Caro- 

 lina, South Carolina, Alabama, Lou- 

 isiana, Florida, Texas. Arkansas. 

 Missouri, Illinois and Indiana; 

 white cypress in North Carolina, 

 South Carolina, Florida, Missis- 

 sippi; black cypress in North Caro- 

 lina, South Carolina, Alabama and 

 Texas; red cypress in Georgia, Mis- 

 sissippi, Louisiana and Texas; 

 swamp cypress in Louisiana; cy- 

 press in Delaware, North Carolina, 

 South Carolina, Florida, Missis- 

 sippi, Kentucky, Missouri and Illi- 

 nois; deciduous cypress in Dela- 

 ware, Illinois and Texas; southern 

 cypress in Alabama. Of the genus 

 Taxodium there are twelve other 

 varieties distinguished in cultiva- 

 tion in this country, but none of 

 commercial importance. 



The bark of the bald cypress is 

 reddish brown and furrowed; the 

 branches are slender; the leaves are 

 light green; simple; growing closely 

 in two ranges along the branches; half an 

 inch long; needle shaped; pointed; deciduous. 

 The flowers are moncecious. yellowish, and aji 

 pear some time before the leaves. The stami- 

 nate flowers grow compactly in terminal 

 drooping panicled spikes; the pistillate ones 

 grow in round clusters; the cones are lisht 

 brown; globular; the several angular scales 

 forming a closed ball until mature. 



TENTH PAPER. 

 Varying with locality of growth the heart 

 wood of the bald cypress varies from a light 

 yellow to a very dark brown, while the sap 



n 1 is nearly white. The grain is dose 



and straight, and is often in mature trees, 

 pitted by a disease commercially known as 

 "peck." In structural qualities the wood is 

 light, soft, and not very strong but extremely 

 durable. The green wood is very heavy and 



TYPICAL SPECIMEN LOI I s [ A \ A CYPRESS 

 SHOWIXi; GIRDLING. 



GROWTH 



dries out naturally with great slowness. 



The representative uses of the wood are foi 

 carpenter work, construction, cooperage, rail 

 way ties, tank building, and shingles, and 

 its use is very extensive in horticultural 

 architectural work. The recorded weight of 

 the dry wood is twenty-eight to twenty-nine 

 pounds per cubic foot. The wood is com- 

 mercially divided into white or yellow 



cypress and black cypress, according to the 

 difference in age and environment. The 

 older and darker growth is more inclined to 

 have the peck effect than the lighter and 

 younger growth, which shows a preponder- 

 ance of shake defect in its butt cuts. The 

 fungous disease known as peck does not 

 increase in the wood after the tree is felled. 

 The American or bald cypress is a tree o£ 

 considerable importance in lumber 

 commerce. It grows on submerged 

 land or in deep swamps, which 

 makes unusual logging methods 

 necessary. Owing to the great 

 weight of the green wood, it will 

 not float unless killed by being gir- 

 dled for a year or more in advance 

 of its being felled. In the older 

 logging methods utilized, cypresa 

 was girdled and snaked out to 

 waterways and floated to the mills. 

 Lately many large cypress opera- 

 tions are carried on by the building 

 of railroads through the swamps, 

 which are largely built on piling 

 and stringers, although occasionally 

 earth fills are utilized. The timber 

 grows to an unusual size, and trees 

 at the base showing a growth of 

 twenty to thirty feet are not in- 

 frequent. The cypress trunk here- 

 with pictured has a diameter of 

 eight feet at the point of girdling. 

 The lighter colored seasoned wood 

 resembles white cedar in that it is 

 soft, light and very durable. At ; 

 one time specimens of the wood in 

 the markets of the world were 

 known as black or white cypress, 

 according as they sunk or floated. 

 Much of the dark cypress wood is , 

 now known as black cypress in the I 

 foreign markets, where it is chiefly 

 employed for tank and vat build- 

 ing. Individual specimens of the 

 wood in some localities are tinted 

 in a variety of shades and some of 

 the natural designs are extremely 

 beautiful. 



The bald cypress was so called 

 from the leafless appearance of the 

 tree in winter. The roots, which 

 frequently project above the sur- 

 face of the swamp surrounding the 

 tree, are known as cypress knees. 

 The bald cypress in winter is a 

 funereal looking tree, draped, as 

 its branches almost invariably are, 

 with Spanish moss. Its grim stateliness, 

 with its drapery of moss, make it extremely 

 picturesque and it possesses qualities of 8 

 distinct charm. The tree is often completely 

 surrounded by water from which its bole 

 rises, bulging at the base, but straight as 

 an arrow, to its great canopy top. 



Alice Lounsberry, in "A Guide to the 

 Trees," makes this charming descriptive 



