434 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



This grass is an exceedingly character- 

 istic feature of the swamp, forming 

 dense thickets and growing to a height 

 of six or eight feet. The adjacent 

 forest consisted largely of red maple, 

 persimmon, sour-gum, willow-oak, ash, 

 and magnolia, with scattered trees of 

 yellow pine, white cedar and bald 

 cypress. One of the most abundant 

 and striking features was the "jasse- 

 min" (Gelsemium scmpcn'ircns), whose 

 clusters of fragrant, yellow flowers were 

 to be seen everywhere, entwined in the 

 undergrowth. 



At night the scene in the vicinity of 

 the camp was rendered wierdly beau- 

 tiful by the glow of "fox-fire" on the 

 stumps of the trees and in the debris 

 of the forest floor. I had often seen 

 this phenomenon in other localities, but 

 never before to the same extent or bril- 

 liancy. The phenomenon is caused by 

 certain fungi, especially in the genera 

 Panus, Clitocybe, and Armillaria, and 

 also by many bacteria; but its nature is 

 not thoroughly understood. It is com- 

 monly spoken of as "phosphorescence"; 

 but this is a misnomer as it is not due 

 to phosphorus but to the process of 

 oxidation. A better term to use would 

 be "luminescence." 



Undoubtedly, however, the bald 

 cypress (Taxodium distichum) is the 

 most striking feature of the swamp. 

 These trees never fail to excite the 

 wonder and admiration of every ob- 

 server, especially when seen for the 

 first time. The massive buttressed 

 base ; the peculiar processes known as 

 "knees," which rise from the roots; 

 the tall straight trunks, and the deli- 

 cate, feathery foliage, mark these trees 



as unique in our modern flora. In 

 many respects they resemble the 

 redwoods and giant sequoias of the 

 Pacific coast, and, like them, they rep- 

 resent the type of a genus which 

 reached its maximum of development 

 in past geologic ages and is now on 

 the highroad to extinction. The bald 

 cypress will grow in high, dry ground; 

 but its natural habitat is in swamps. 

 It thrives and flourishes under condi- 

 tions which Avould be fatal to most 

 other trees, with the roots permanently 

 immersed and often with the base of 

 the trunk entirely surrounded by water. 

 Splendid examples are to be seen on 

 the shores of Lake Drummond, where 

 they constitute almost the sole feature 

 of the outer zone of the lake border 

 vegetation. Many individual trees, iso- 

 lated from their fellows, grow well out 

 in the lake, constituting one of its 

 most striking features. 



The water of the swamp is dark- 

 colored, but clear, resembling strong 

 tea, and has an acid reaction and re- 

 markable antiseptic properties. It is 

 palatable and wholesome and keeps 

 wonderfully well, without becoming 

 foul. In former years it was much 

 used on ships, especially on those about 

 to make long voyages. That from the 

 white cedar areas, known as "juniper- 

 water," was considered the best. Even 

 where the ground is saturated, and the 

 water stagnant, there is an entire ab- 

 sence of the odors which are generally 

 noticeable in salt marshes and in many 

 fresh water swamps where there is 

 abundant decaying vegetation. 



^Article and pictures by courtesy of the 

 Journal of the New York Botanical Garden. 



AN EXPLANATION 



I justice to Mr. Theodore S 

 Woolsey, Jr., who contributed 

 an excellent article on the Har- 

 Forest School for the April num- 

 ber^of AMERICAN FORESTRY, the editor 

 desires to explain that owing to lack of 

 space it was impossible to use the care- 

 fully and skillfully tabulated statistical 

 tables by which Mr. Woolsey showed 



the actual results obtained with various 

 trees under different conditions, and 

 made a number of yearly comparisons 

 which would have been of great inter- 

 est to the student. The editor regrets 

 that it is necessary, owing to lack of 

 space, to eliminate statistical tables from 

 most of the articles submitted which 

 contain them. 



