52 THE TKEES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



the most valuable kind, and will last 40 years. The 

 business of making these is a very profitable branch 

 of industry in the lower parts of the State. For 

 fencing and for water-pipes the wood is of high value. 



There are three varieties of this tree recognized 

 by those who deal in its timber — the Red^ Black and 

 White Cypress, characterized by the different color of 

 their heart-wood. The Red Gyijre%%' has its heart of 

 a reddish tint, is preferable to the others for timber, 

 and cannot be split. This variety is easily recognized 

 by its straight trunk (not always having a swollen 

 base), generally with a small top, and by the wounded 

 bark having a reddish tinge. The Black and JVhite 

 Cypress cannot, so far as I know, be discriminated 

 without the aid of the axe. The Black has its wood 

 duskier and heavier than the Wfiite^ which is less 

 resinous. According to Michaux, the latter grows 

 in land constantly inundated, and the former in drier 

 situations ; but I am assured by others, that all three 

 varieties may be found in precisely similar situations. 



The foliage of this tree usually spreads in only two 

 directions from the branchlets, like that of the Hem- 

 lock Spruce; but there is a variety, not uncommon in 

 some localities, especially upon the wet savannas near 

 Wilmington, on which the leaves are very small, 

 growing upon four sides of the branchlets and pressed 

 down upon them, much like those of the Cedar. 



Cypress Knees, growing from the roots of the tree 

 to a height corresponding with the usual 'depth of 

 the water, and constituting a singular peculiarity in 



