THE CYPRESS TRIBE. 223 



Athrotaxis cupressoides.— A medium-sized tree, from 30 to 

 40 feet high, with numerous branches; the branchlets are covered 

 with small thick coriaceous leaves, spirally arranged, closely im- 

 bricated, and glossy deep green in colour. It occurs in damp 

 situations, in the neighbourhood of Lake St. Clair and of the 

 Pine Kiver, near Marlborough. 



Athrotaxis laxifolia. — A low tree, from 20 to 25 feet high, 

 much resembling A. cupressoides, with the leaves longer, more 

 pointed, and instead of being closely appressed to the branches, 

 are open and spreading. It is found on the banks of a small 

 stream called the Meander, also on the Western Hills, at an 

 elevation of 4,000 feet. 



Athrotaxis selaginoid.es. — A low tree or shrub, of variable 

 height, quite distinct from either of the preceding. The branches 

 and their ramifications are very numerous ; the leaves scale-like, 

 spirally arranged, closely appressed to the branchlets, and deep 

 fulvous green. It is perhaps the hardiest of the Athrotaxes. It 

 occurs at the cataracts of the Meander, at an elevation of about 

 4,000 feet. 



Tbibb III.— CUPRESSINEjE. The Cypress Tribe. 



The Cypress Tribe consists of trees and shrubs of dense growth, 

 the former being generally of fastigiate or columnar habit, but 

 there are some that have spreading branches, and attain the 

 dimensions of timber trees ; the latter are either erect, spreading, 

 procumbent, or prostrate, frequently diminutive in size, and formal 

 in outline. Amidst this great diversity in habit, there is, how- 

 ever, throughout the Cypress Tribe a much nearer approach to 

 uniformity in the aspect of the trees and shrubs included in it, 

 than is seen in either of the two tribes already described, owing 

 chiefly to their compact growth and the simple form and structure 

 of their evergreen foliage. 



The general characters which distinguish the tribe are — 



The branches and branchlets are very numerous, crowded, 

 and much ramified, the ramification being produced laterally 



