282 TAXODIUM PISTICHUM. 



XIV. 248. Sargent, Forest Trees N. Amer. 10th Census, U.S.A. IX. 183 ; and 

 Silva N. Amer. X. 151, t. 537. And many others. 



Cupressus disticha, Linnwus, Sp. Plant. II. 1003 (1753). Miller, Diet ed. VIII. 

 No. 4 (1768). 



Schubertia disticlia, Mirbel in Mem. Musee d'Hist. Nat. XIII. 75 (1825). 

 Spach, Hist. Veg. Phaner. XL 349. 



Eng. Deciduous Cypress. Amer. Bald Cypress, Swamp Cypress. Fr. Cypres 

 chauve. Germ. Sumpfcypresse. Ital. Cipresso di Virginia. 



var. pendulum. 



In Great Britain, a smaller and more slender tree than the common 

 form and smaller in all its parts. Leaves spirally inserted on the 

 deciduous branchlets which are mostly pendulous but sometimes erect 

 or taking an intermediate position according to soil and locality, linear- 

 acicular acuminate, 0'5 to O75 inch long, more or less appressed at 

 the base and free at the apex, and of a soft light green.* 



T. distichum pendulum, Carriere, Traite Conif. ed. II. 182 (1867). Beissner, 

 Nadelholzk. 152. Masters in Card. Chron. XXVI. ser. 3 (1899), p. 489, with 

 fig. T. microphyllum, Brongniart, Annales de Sc. Nat. XXX. 182. T. sinense, 

 Gordon, Pinet. ed. II. 385. Glyptostrobus pendulus, Endliclier, Synops. 71. Hooker 

 fil, Bot. Mag. t. 5603. Cupressus disticha imbricaria,f Nuttall, Gen. III. 224 (1818). 



Taxodium distichum is a semi-aquatic tree always found growing 

 in or near water or on low flat lands adjacent to rivers and lakes 

 that are subject to periodical inundation. In these situations, 

 especially in the warm climate of the southern States, the trunks 

 often attain an enormous diameter in comparison with their height, 

 the proportion between the two dimensions being often greater than 

 in the gigantic Sequoias of California. 



"That part of the trunk which is covered with water or liable to 

 be by inundations, is greatly enlarged by huge, often hollow buttresses 

 which project in all directions. Each of these buttresses terminates 

 in a long branching root which extends out to a great distance, sending 

 our stout anchor roots deep into the ground, and many lateral roots 

 from which spring the ' knees ' peculiar to this tree. The ' knees ' 

 first appear often close together as small tubercles on the upper side of 

 the roots ; they grow rapidly until they attain a height of from two 

 to ten feet, or have pushed well above the water, when they cease 

 growing upwards but increase in diameter. They are composed of 

 exceedingly light soft spongy wood and are frequently hollow in old age."! 

 Much discussion has taken place among American naturalists respecting 

 the physiological significance of these " knees," it being contended on 

 the one hand that " their function is to stiffen and strengthen 

 the roots in order that a great tree may anchor itself safely in a 

 yielding material," and on the other that "the service which these 

 peculiar growths perform is to bring air to the roots otherwise cut off 

 by the water which covers them during a considerable portion of the 

 year." Probably there is much in both assertions that is true, the 

 advocates of both relying on the circumstance that trees growing on 



This form of leaves also occurs on erect brandies and branchlets of the common form, 

 and both this foim and the usual distichous leaves have been observed on branches of the 

 same tree. 



t This is the oldest of the varietal names, but as it has not been taken up by any European 

 botanist and is quite unknown in British gardens, it is inexpedient to revive it. 



J Garden and Forest, Vol. III. p. 2. 



