PINE FAMILY 
The boughs of the Balsam Fir are sought by the northern 
hunter, fisherman, or tourist to make his wildwood bed. They 
possess an elastic quality which fits them for the purpose. 
The dried leaves are the material of which the much prized 
fir pillows are made. 
The cones are produced in great numbers, they sit erect 
in rows on the upper side of the branches, are two to four 
inches long, an inch or more thick, cylindrical, with rounded 
ends. Bluish purple when young, they are often so abundant 
on the upper branches that they give a soft purple haze to 
the top of the tree. 
In appearance the Balsam Fir resembles the Silver Fir of 
Europe which is a much finer tree. 
BALD CYPRESS. DECIDUOUS CYPRESS 
Taxddium distichum. 
The Bald Cypress is a southern tree growing in swamps 
and beside rivers, ranging from Delaware to Florida along 
the coast and in the Mississippi valley, growing as far north 
as southern Indiana, It is frequently planted in the parks 
and lawns of northern Ohio where it is perfectly hardy and 
becomes a tall, slender, spiry tree. Like the Tamarack its 
leaves are deciduous, falling in October. These are of two 
kinds ; the ordinary leaf is narrowly linear, flat, thin, one-half 
to three-fourths of an inch long, one-twelfth of an inch 
wide, apparently two-ranked; when full grown is bright 
yellow green both above and below. In autumn they turn 
a dull orange brown before falling. The scale-like leaves 
appear on the flowering stem. The cones are globular or 
obovate, usually about an inch in diameter and appear irreg- 
ularly along the branch, 
This is the tree that when growing in the swamps forms 
the well-known cypress-knees. These area development of 
the roots and appear in greatest size and numbers when the 
tree grows on submerged land. It seems to be an effort of 
the roots to get out of water and into the air, 
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