CYCLALS 

 CYPRESSES AND THEIR ALLIES 



It would require much space to properly 

 point out the characters of the large class of 

 cypress-like trees, with their many genera, all 

 with their leaf and cone structure usually in 

 pairs and opposite, not in spirals and scat- 

 tered, as in the Pitch Trees described. Their 

 leaves are reduced to mere small scales, tri- 

 angular and pointed ; the cones are small, sel- 

 dom more than an inch long, the scales in 

 pairs and in alternate series. The timber of 

 all the cypresses is but slightly resinous, and 

 is fragrant, often pungent ; includes the two 

 American Cedars, one, the Red Cedar, or 

 Shingle Tree (Thuya) of the north, with 

 horizontally flattened, convex sprays of foli- 

 age and minute, half-inch, upturned cones, 

 becoming large trees at the north, and ex- 

 tensively manufactured into shingles of the 

 most durable character; the trunks, usually 

 swollen at the base, are apt to be hollow, 

 hence were finely adapted for use by the abo- 

 rigines in making their canoes. 



The other pyramidal, flat-branched, thick- 

 barked tree is the Incense Cedar (Libocedrus) 

 of the middle elevations of the Sierra, par- 

 ticularly abundant in and near Yosemite Val- 

 ley; foliage ,like the last, but the cones much 

 larger, yellowish, and pendant from the ends 

 of the fan-like, usually horizontal sprays, the 

 two larger concave scales 'lacing each other 

 and holding the four seeds ; the timber is very 

 fragrant and quite durable, hence much used 

 for fence posts. 



The true Cypress (Cuprcssus) has four 

 species in California, all distinguished by 

 globular and very knobby cones. But two 

 species need be mentioned. One, the Law- 



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