THE CONIFEROUS PLANTS OF ITALY. 



139 



snowy tops of the mountains, and the position in the middle 

 regions of the mountains has probably been confounded with the 

 position on the tops. Near Somma, in Lombardy, there is a 

 Cypress, which Napoleon respected when he constructed the 

 Simplon. It is 121 feet high and 23 feet in circumference at 1 

 foot above the ground. This diameter, when the very slow rate 

 of growth of such trees is remembered, proves it to be very old. 

 According to an ancient tradition, it was planted in the year 

 that Jesus Christ was born ; but the Abbe Belese says that 

 according to an ancient chronicle this tree existed in the time of 

 Julius Caesar, i. e. half a century B. C* Pliny mentions a 

 Cypress at Rome that was thought to be as old as the city itself, 

 and which fell in the reign of Nero.| At any rate, it is certain 

 that the cultivation of the Cypress was known in very early 

 times. Cato and Varro say that it was planted in gardens to 

 mark their limits.ij: Varro and Columella§ recommend its wood 

 as well fitted for stakes for vineyards. Pliny gives rather an 

 unfavourable account of this tree :|| its growth is slow, its fruits 

 are useless, its berries ugly, its leaves bitter, with a strong smell, 

 its shadow is not agreeable, it has but little wood (or its wood is 

 light and porous), it is nearly a bush. He distinguishes two 

 varieties, the pyramidal and that with horizontal branches : 

 forms which he wrongly supposes to indicate the male and 

 female plant.lf He remarks, moreover, that it may be pruned, 

 that it is used for making thick hedges, and that by clipping it 

 representations of the chase, of ships, and other objects may be 

 given to it.** 



The Juniper of the ancients is the same as that of the moderns : 

 there is no doubt of this. The Italian word Ginepro indicates 

 it. Pliny says that it has spines instead of leaves, that it keeps 

 its fruit all the year round, and sometimes those of the pre- 



* Loudon, Arboretum, iv. 2470. The Milanese chronicler might not, how- 

 ever, have been very correctly informed. 



t Pliny, xvi. 86 — " Fuit cum ea (Lotus in vulcanali quod Romulus con- 

 stituit, Eequseva urbi) cupressus aequalis, circa suprema Neronis principis 

 prolapsa atque neglecta." 



X Cato, 28, 151. Varro, i. 15. 



§ Varro, i. 26. Columella, iv. 26. 



II Pliny, xvi. 60 — " Natu morosa, fructu supervacua, baccis torva, folio 

 amara, odore violenta, ac ne umbra quidem gratiosa, materie rara, ut pcene 

 fruticosi generis.'' 



^ Pliny — " Duo genera earum ; meta in fastigium convoluta quse et fe- 

 mina appellatur. Mas spargit extra se ramos." 



** Pliny, ibid. — " Nunc vero tonsilis facto in densitate parietum coerci- 

 taque gracilitate perpetuo tenera. Trahitur etiam in picturas operis tapiarii, 

 venatus, classesve, et imagines rerum tenuifolio, brevique et virenti semper 

 vestiens."' 



