THE CYPRESSES 271 



scales, each bearing two seeds. The bark is cinnamon-red 

 in color. The trees occur scattered among other species in 

 open forests from three thousand to six thousand feet 

 above the sea, reaching a height of two hundred feet and a 

 trunk diameter of twelve feet on the Sierra Nevada glacial 

 moraines. 



The lumber resembles that of arbor- vitae, and is used for 

 the same purposes. In cultivation the tree is hardy and 

 thrives in parks in the neighborhood of New York. In 

 Europe it has long been a favorite. 



THE CYPRESSES 



Three genera of pyramidal conifers, with light, graceful 

 leaf -spray, and small woody cones, held erect, compose the 

 group known as cypresses. All have found places in 

 horticulture, for not one of them but has value for orna- 

 mental planting. Some species have considerable lumber 

 value. 



The Monterey Cypress 



Cwpressus rnacrocarpa. Cord. 



The Monterey cypress is now restricted to certain ocean- 

 facing bluffs about Monterey Bay in California. These 

 trees are derelicts of their species. Wind-beaten into 

 grotesqueness of form, unmatched in any other tree 

 near the sea-level, their matted and gnarled branches 

 make a flat and very irregular top above a short, thick, 

 often bent and leaning trunk. Clusters of globular cones 

 stud the twigs behind the leafy spraj^ composed of thread- 

 like wiry twigs, entirely covered with scaly, four-ranked 

 leaves. 



