CATALOGUE OF THE TIMBERS OF THE WORLD 69 



Cypress, Marsh. Taxodium distichum, Richard. Weight, 33 lbs. 8 oz. 

 Southern United States. 



This wood is imported in the form of planks and boards of various 

 qualities, but only of late years in any considerable quantity. It is 

 yellowish-red, often nearly salmon-coloured. In the United States it is 

 used so extensively that Gibson writes : " The uses are so nearly universal 

 that a list is impossible." Another American authority, Hough, gives 

 the following account of this timber : "Its great durability, immunity 

 from the attack of parasites, and non-liability to great shrinking or 

 warping make it one of our most valuable woods for all wood-work 

 exposed to weather, for tank construction, cooperage, etc." These 

 qualities, combined with a sharp segregation of the hard and soft grain, 

 and with a scantiness of resin, should bring this wood into more general 

 use. It is especially satisfactory for out-houses and green-houses, and 

 where so used will probably outlast any other kind of soft-wood, even 

 when unpainted. One such unpainted building in this country has 

 survived for six years, and the wood, though subject to continual heat 

 and moisture, is quite sound throughout. The English-grown wood 

 appears to possess equally good quahties, and where available should 

 be used for exposed wood-work. It differs from the American-grown 

 timber that reaches this country ^ in colour, which is light yellow, and 

 in appearance it recalls Lebanon cedar. There is a liability of the 

 hard grain rising and the soft sinking, so that the wood is apt to show 

 a ridgy surface. 



Gibson has made some remarks which suggest that the remarkable 

 durability of this wood is somewhat doubtful, but there is good reason 

 to question his opinion. Professor Sargent, in a private letter (March 3, 

 1915) on this subject, says : " The wood Taxodium distichum is con- 

 sidered to be exceedingly durable, and I do not know on what authority 

 Gibson has made his statement. It is not impossible, of course, that the 

 wood of a diseased tree, or one that had grown under abnormal con- 

 ditions, might be of poor quahty." 



A very large quantity was purchased by the British Govenmient 

 during the war for aeronautical construction, but it was found to be 

 unsuitable, and led to deplorable results. 



The wood, being coniferous, has no pores ; the annual rings are 

 marked by the alternation of the soft, open-meshed spring-wood and 

 the hard, closer-grained summer-wood. The latter has one uncommon 

 feature ; it is apt to be divided into several concentric zones in each 

 annual ring, by the intervention of narrow lines of wood like the spring- 



1 In the United States the timber varies, so that a distinction is drawn between 

 the heavy " black " and the light " white " cypress. 



