62 



TREE ANCESTORS 



to the swamp deposits that formed the brown coal so extensively 

 present and utilized in Europe, and especially in Germany. 



In North America Miocene cypresses are found in Virginia on 

 the east coast and in Oregon on the west coast. In Virginia the 

 Miocene cypress with leaves, cones and seeds like those of the 

 modem species flourished in the swamps of the low coastal country. 

 Streams were sluggish and erosion slight and consequently great 



Fig. 10. Sketch Map Showing Present (soled black) and Past 

 (lined areas) Distribution of the Bald Cypress 



beds of diatoms — tiny marine plants with siHceous tests, accumu- 

 lated in the shallow waters along those low coasts. The cypress 

 has never been found in the Southern Hemisphere and apparently 

 did not succeed in penetrating into South America as did the se- 

 quoia which is found in the lower Miocene as far south as southern 

 Chile. 



