28 



BRITISH EOCENE FLORA. 



Widdringtonias and Cypresses in Mr. Gordon's collection, recently purchased and presented 

 to the Kew Herbarium by Sir J. Hooker. 



The only genus resembling Cupressus is the closely-allied Thuya. The cones, how- 

 ever, are generally smaller and are more leathery, except in the section Chamoecyparis or 

 Retinospora, in which they are woody and only distinguishable in size from those of 

 Cupressus. All the Thuyas have imbricated foliage except the section Biota, in which it 

 is sometimes partially expanded. 



Fig. 10. — Betinospora filifera. — From Veitcli's ' Manual of tbe Conifera;, p. 244. 



Cupressus fimebris, or the funeral cypress, is when full grown a graceful tree, with 

 erect stem and drooping branches, reaching a height of fifty or sixty feet. The young 

 plant is of erect habit, and is clothed with needle-like leaves, which are succeeded as it 

 becomes older by others which are scale-like, closely adpressed, and imbricated. It is a 

 native of the north-east provinces of China, and frequently appears in clumps on the sides 

 of hills. The other species to which the fossil has been compared, on account of the 

 similarity in the cones, are natives of eastern Europe, the Himalayas, and California. 



