FAMILIES OF FLOWERING PLANTS. 11 
rance of the fir-balsam (Abies balsamea) is due. Fig. 7 illustrates the 
cones and cone-scales of several native spruces, while Fig. 8 affords a 
view of a northern tamarack swamp. 
. 
Fic. 7.—Branch, cones and cone-scales of various spruces. (From Bull. 73. 
veooat Agric. Iixp. Station, by Miss Anua Clark. Loaned by the Univ of 
Vermont). 
Tribe Taxodieae,—Seven genera, each with one or two species, 
all natives of eastern Asia except Seguota, with 2 Californian species, and ~ 
Taxodium, the bald cypress, with one in Mexico and one in the eastern 
United States. The members of this tribe furnish conspicuous ex- 
amples of the vanishing type of gymnospermous vegetation to which 
we have already made reference (See Supplement, page 4). The stately 
Sequoias, monarchs of the Californian forest, are probably doomed to 
ultimate extinction, though the redwood (S. sempervirens) is much 
more abundant than the giant sequoia (S. Washingtoniana), which 
exists now only in a few carefully preserved groves. The enormous 
dimensions attained by these trees are well shown in Fig. 1 of the 
Supplement. The bald cypress (Zaxodium distichum) is familiar to 
every one who has made a pilgrimage to the Dismal Swamp of Vir- 
ginia or to any of the large tidal swamps along the southeastern At- 
lantic coast. Though often grown as a shade tree in southern cities it 
needs a wet soil in order to thrive, and in such situations it usually 
develops the remarkable ‘‘knees’’ to a wonderful extent. These knees 
are woody projections thrown up around the base of the trunk, coni- 
cal in outline, with a rounded apex, projecting sometimes a foot or 
more above the surface of the swamp. The bole of the trunk itself is 
often enormously enlarged, serving as a buttress to anchor the tree 
firmly in place. A similar enlargement may be seen in many other 
