54 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1904. 



they were covered with plants, conspicuous among which was 

 the Gelsemium , commonly called yellow jessamine. From time 

 to time we passed small settlements, and occasionally large 

 farms. 



About midway of the canal a small side canal, its banks 

 covered with a growth of horsebriar and wild roses, leads to 

 Drummond lake, which is off the direct route and has no regular 

 connnunication with it. Altogether the visit was a disappoint- 

 ment because the wind was blowing a hurricane and it Was 

 not considered safe to go out on the lake; and second because 

 there was no chance to see the peculiar cypress characteristics. 

 As far as we could see along the shore most of the trees appear 

 to be dead, due to the lowering of the water. 



We saw some of these trees to much better advantage on 

 the James river, and also while driving near Suffolk, coming 

 unexpectedly upon them as they stood in the water on the 

 borders of a small stream. The two forms of growth which 

 this tree assumes were quite noticeable, — the erect pyramidal 

 form, common to young trees; and the broad summit, often 

 one hundred feet across, and rounded outline of older trees, 

 which generally lose their lower branches, the up})er ones 

 curving slightly tlownward. AA'here a tree stands alone or a 

 few grow together in cultivation they show the pyramidal 

 form, like the group in Central Park, New York. 



They have also two forms of leaves, the one pressed close 

 to the branch, the other standing at right angles from it. They 

 may appear on tlie same or on different branches of the same 

 tree, or on separate trees. Trees with both forms of leaves 

 are growing side by side at the Arnold Arboretum. The foliage 

 is very delicate and fern-like and its beauty makes the trees 

 desirable for cultivation. 



One of the i)eculiarities of the bald cj^ijress is the enlarged 

 trunk near the base, where it slopes outward, looking like an 

 inverted vase; but the most striking characteristic is a series 

 of projections from the roots, known as cyprei-s knees, an 

 arrangement, so it is tliought, for supj^lying them with air; 

 and as water often covers the ground ai'ound the trees to the 



