PINE FAMILY 



The famous Cypress of Montezuma in the gardens of Che- 

 pultepec is a species of Taxodium. This was a noted tree 

 four centuries ago, and is believed to be about seven hundred 

 years old. It is one hundred and seventy feet high and about 

 fifteen feet in diameter. 



ARBORVITiE. WHITE CEDAR '^ 



Thuja occidentalis. 



Thuja is derived from a Greek word signifying, to sacrifice, the 

 wood having been used in sacrificial offerings because of its agree- 

 able odor. Occidentalis, western. Arborvitas, Tree of Life, is 

 supposed to have been given because the bark and twigs have 

 been used in medicine. 



A narrow, conical, evergreen tree with flat frond-like foliage ; 

 reaches the height of sixty feet. Inhabits wet soil along the banks 

 of streams and forms almost impenetrable forests northward ; ranges 

 across the continent from New Brunswick to Manitoba and south- 

 ward to Minnesota, Illinois and in the Atlantic region along the 

 mountains to North Carolina and Tennessee. Roots fibrous ; juices 

 medicinal. Wood, bark, and foliage resinous, aromatic. 



Bark. — Light reddish brown, slightly furrowed, on old trunks de- 

 ciduous in ragged strips. Branchlets at first flat, disposed in one 

 horizontal plane, light yellow green, changing with the death of the 

 leaves during their second season to light cinnamon red, and grow- 

 ing darker the next year. Gradually becoming terete they are cov- 

 ered with dark yellow, coarse bark. Rich in tannin. 



Wood. — Fragrant, light yellow brown, sapwood nearly white ; light, 

 soft, brittle, coarse-grained and durable in contact with the soil. 

 Used for fence posts, rails, railway ties and shingles. Sp. gr., 

 0.3164; weight of cu. ft., 19.72 lbs. 



Leaves. — Opposite, imbricated in four ranks, scale -like, appressed. 

 The scale-like leaves of the ultimate branches are nearly orbicular, 

 or ovate, the two lateral rows keeled, the two other rows flat and 

 cause the twig to appear much flattened ; many of the leaves bear a 

 raised glandular disk. When full grown are yellow green above 

 and below, in winter frequently become brown. The leaves of older 

 twigs are acute or acuminate and often remote. Leaves of seedlings 

 are lanceolate. 



Flowers. — May. Monoecious, terminal, reddish brown, solitary. 

 Staminate and pistillate usually on different branchlets. Staminate 



