336 NATURAL HISTORY. 



The leaves and sap of the bark are said to be narcotic 

 and injurious. 



The American ~Yew Ground Hemlock (T. Cana- 

 densis) is a low and straggling bush, never forming an 

 ascending trunk. 17. 



The Juniper (Juniperus commuais), leaves in threes, 

 sitting close, prickly, pointed, is an evergreen shrub, 

 found in northern Europe and Asia, on hills and pasture 

 lands ; grows also in America in dry, sterile hills, from 

 New Jersey to Maine, eastward, northward, and along 

 the great lakes. Berries hang on the bush two years ; 

 are at first green, next purplish, and, last of all, black. 

 Contain a volatile oil and a portion of sugar. Odor bal- 

 samic and agreeable ; taste sweetish bitter, is aromatic 

 and exciting, and used, in some countries, for seasoning 

 dishes ; employed in Holland as a principal ingredient in 

 the making of gin. h. 



The Cypress (Cupressus sempervirens), Tourne., is a 

 large evergreen tree ; trunk slender, in form resembling 

 the Italian poplar ; leaves consist of short, minute scales 

 of a dull green color. On account of its somber appear- 

 ance it is, in the East, planted in burial places. Native 

 of the whole Levant, Italy, and Spain ; found also in the 

 United States in swamps, which it densely and exclus- 

 ively occupies. Wood agreeably odorous, hard, and red- 

 dish-yellow, is used in the manufacture of shingles, pails, 

 posts, etc. h. 



Arbor Vitae (Thuja occidentalis) is a tree of about 

 fifty feet high ; branches spreading, diminishing in size 

 upwards ; leaves, evergreen, consist of branchlets more 

 flat and broad than those of the cedar ; cones oval and 

 terminal. Abound in the British provinces and Northern 

 States. Transplanted in Europe as an ornamental tree. 



