Cupressus, or Cyparissus 



them easy to recognize at a considerable distance. 

 The square is a cemetery, and you remember that 

 Virgil's epithet for the tree is ' feralis' {Ae. vi. 216). 

 The association of the cypress with funerals seems 

 to be unexplained, for we can hardly accept Varro's 

 view that the trees sheltered the mourners from the 

 smell of the burning body. The timber was used in 

 house-building (Ge. ii. 443). 



The cypress is probably a long-lived tree. When 

 Mrs. Piozzi visited the famous garden at Verona in 

 the year 1785 she asked how old the cypresses were, 

 and was told between four and five hundred years. 

 On visiting the garden some twenty years ago I put 

 the same question to the custodian and received the 

 same answer. To such consistency as this a change- 

 able mortal can but make a humble bow. 



The meaning of ' coniferae,' as applied to our tree, 

 was disputed by the ancient commentators. Some 

 were for the obvious sense of cone-bearing. The 

 cones of the cypress, which are about an inch in 

 diameter, though less arresting than those of a fir, 

 are distributed over the whole tree. Other authori- 

 ties, pointing to Ovid's ' metas imitato cupressus,' 

 considered Virgil to mean that the leafy part of the 

 tree was shaped like the turning-post in a chariot race. 



The cypress was sometimes grown to support 

 vines. In that case it was recommended to plant 

 the vine at some distance from the tree and train 

 it accordingly. 



Flower, April. 

 Italian name, Cipresso. 

 39 



