424 CONIFERS. (FINE FAMILY.) 



SUBORDER LL CUPRESSINE^E. THE CYPRESS FAMILY. 



4. TIltlJA, Toum. ARBOR VIT^E. 



Flowers monoecious on different branches, in very small terminal ovoid catkins. 

 Stamens with a scale-like filament or connective, hearing 4 anther-cells. Fertile 

 catkins of few imbricated scales, fixed by the base, each bearing 2 erect ovules, 

 dry and spreading at maturity. Cotyledons 2. Small evergreen trees, with 

 very flat 2-ranked spray, on which the small and apprcssed persistent leaves are 

 closely imbricated : these are of two sorts, on different or successive branchlcts ; 

 the one awl-shaped ; the other scale-like, blunt, short, and adnate. (0via, Qva, 

 or Guei'a, the ancient name of some resin-bearing evergreen.) 



1. T. occidental!*, L. (AMERICAN ARBOR VIT^E.) Leaves ap- 

 presscd-imbricatcd in 4 rows on the 2-cdged branchlets ; scales of the cones 

 pointless ; seeds broadly winged all round. Swamps and cool rocky banks, 

 N. New England to Penn. and Wisconsin; chiefly northward, where it forms 

 extensive "cedar-swamps," and is called WHITE CEDAR: rare southward along 

 the Alleghanies. Tree 20 -50 high, straight, with recurved branches, yield- 

 ing a pungent aromatic oil : wood light, but exceedingly durable. 



5. CUPRESSVS, Tourn. CYPRESS. 



Flowers monoecious on different branches, in terminal small catkins. Sterile 

 catkins composed of shield-shaped scale-like filaments bearing 2-4 anther-cells 

 under the lower margin. Fertile catkins globular, of shield-shaped scales in 4 

 ranks, bearing several erect bottle-shaped ovules. Cone globular, firmly closed, 

 but opening at maturity ; the scales thick and woody, pointed or bossed in the 

 middle; the few or several narrowly-winged seeds attached to their contracted 

 base or stalk. Cotyledons 2 or 3. Strong-scented evergreen trees, with very 

 small and scale-like closely appressed-hnbricated leaves, and exceedingly dura- 

 ble wood. (The classical name.) 



1. C. tliyoicles, L. (WHITE CEDAR.) Leaves minute, ovate, with a 

 small gland on the back, closely imbricated in 4 rows on the 2-ed.Li-ed branchlets ; 

 anther-cells 2 under each scale. Swamps,Massachusetts to Wisconsin, Virginia, 

 and southward. May. Tree 30- 70 high; the wood and iilmms shreddy 

 bark, as well as the foliage, much like the Arbor Vital ; but the spray more 

 slender, the leaves finer and dull glaucous-green. Cone scarcely larger than a 

 pea, few-seeded. 



6. TAXODIUJJI, Richard. BALD CYPRESS. 



Flowers monoecious on the same branches. Sterile catkins spikcd-panicled, 

 of few stamens: filaments scale-like, shield-shaped, bearing 2-5 antiier-cells. 

 Fertile catkins ovoid, in small clusters, scaly, with 2 ovules at the base of each 

 scale. Cone globular, closed, composed of very thick and angular somewhat 

 shield-shaped scales, bearing 2 angled seeds at their base. Cotyledons G-9. 

 Trees with linear 2-ranked light and deciduous leaves. (Name compounded of 

 Taor, the Yew, and ddos, resemblance. ) 



