FOREST TREES. 



433 



disease ; it has been attacked by aphides, and becomes unhealthy, 

 and the whole tree frequently dies. I have particularly observed that 

 in the Tyrol it grows on vertical sides of the mountain, one tree 

 above another, so that every part of each is thoroughly exposed to the 

 air and light of the sun. Whether in this country the trees do not 

 get their natural conditions, whether they have been planted amongst 

 the rotting roots of former larches infested with the mycelium of fungi, 

 or whether the seasons have been unpropitious, or what other causes 

 have been at work, does not appear to be thoroughly understood. 



On the Apennines, the Cypress [Cupressus sempervirens, fig. 964a) 

 forms a conspicuous feature of the landscape, clothing the sterile sides 



Fig. 964/7. — Cupressus 

 sempervirens. 



Fig. 965. — Cupressus Lawsoniana. 



Fig. 966.— Taxodium Distichum. 



of the mountains to their bare tops. In the environs of Florence there 

 is a grand grove of cypresses, of large size ; their dark foliage is well 

 adapted to give shade from the intense light of an Italian sky. We 

 do not grow the tree to any size. I have tried the Cupressus funebris, 

 from China, without success ; but the Cupressus Lawsoniana (fig. 965), 

 which was introduced from California in 1852, grows rapidly with me, 

 nearly as fast as the Wellingtonia ; it seems to like a soil which is 

 always moist, and its form is so fine that it is a desirable tree to 

 have in every garden. 



The Deciduous Cypress (fig. 966) is to my mind a most elegant 



F F 



