THE SOUTHERN CYPRESS. 391 



and begin to appear when it is twenty or twenty-five feet 

 in height. They are made use of only by the negroes for 

 bee-hives." 



The leaves of the Cypress seem like pinnate leaves, 

 with two rows of leaflets. Their tint is of a light and very 

 bright green, which gives the tree a liveliness, when in 

 fall foliage, that is displayed but by few other trees. But 

 as the foliage is deciduous, and as the branches in its na- 

 tive swamps are covered by long tresses of black moss, 

 when it has shed its leaves nothing iu nature can present 

 a more gloomy appearance. In a dense wood, the foliage 

 is very thin, giving rise to the name of the Bald Cypress, 

 so that it is only on the outside of the forest that the 

 tree can be considered beautiful. Its spray i§ of as fine 

 a texture as the leaves. When the tree is young it is 

 pyramidal, but the old trees are iavariably flattened at 

 the top. 



The wood of this tree, though soft, is very durable, 

 fine grained, and of a reddish color, and is extensively 

 used for the same purposes for which the wood of the 

 white pine is employed. 



