24-66 



AKUOKETUM AND FRUT1CETUM. 



PART 111. 



Varro galbulus, is from 1 in. to U in. in diameter, sessile, and generally pro- 

 duced in pairs, on the sides or at the extremities of the branches ; it ripens 

 during the winter, and opens with the first warmth of spring. The cone is 

 composed of large, angular, corky scales, slightly convex on the outside, 

 streaked in rays, and mucronate in the centre; becoming woody and se- 

 parating when ripe ; on the inside, ending in a thick angular peduncle, to the 

 extremity of which adhere 4 little nuts, which are bony, obovate, compressed, 

 or irregularly angular, and covered with a thin membranaceous skin of a dun 

 colour. The seed is of a bay colour, and of a linear-oblong shape. The 

 wood is hard, fragrant, and of a remarkably fine close grain, very durable, and 

 of a beautiful reddish hue, which Pliny says it never loses. Du Hamel says 

 that he has observed on the bark of young cypresses small particles of a sub- 

 stance resembling gum tragacanth, and that he has seen bees taking great pains 

 to detach these particles, probably to supply the glutinous matter used by 

 them in forming their combs. The rate of growth, in the climate of London, 

 will average, for the first 8 or 10 years, from 1 ft. to 1 ft. 6 in. a year; after 

 which the tree grows more slowly; and, when it has attained its full size, and 

 is between 30 ft. and 40 ft. high, it will live many years without any percept- 

 ible increase in dimensions. The largest, and probably also the oldest, ever- 

 green cypresses in the environs of London, are at Syon, where there is one 

 tree (probably one of those planted there by Dr. Turner, in the reign of 

 Henry VIII.) upwards of 52 ft. high. A tree, probably contemporary with 

 this, is now in ruins in the park at Ditton, near Windsor, said to have been 

 planted by Cardinal Wolsey. The trunk is 8 ft. in circumference ; 

 but the head and branches are in a state of great decay. There 

 are some very fine specimens atCroome,of two of which 

 jigs. 2321. and 2322. are portraits, kindly presented to 

 us by Miss Radcliffe of Worcester. Fig. 2321. is a 

 portrait of C. s. horizontalis, which, in 1836, after 

 being 30 years planted, was 65 ft. high ; and fig. 2322. 

 is a portrait of one of several trees of C. s. strfcta, 

 which, after being 40 years planted, was 35 ft. high. 

 The largest, the oldest, and, doubtless, the most cele- 2322 

 brated evergreen cypress in the world, is that at Soma, in Lom- 

 bardy, which has been already noticed in p. 169., and of which a 

 2321 portrait and the history will be given in a future page. 



Geography. The common evergreen cypress is a native of the islands of 

 the Archipelago; particularly Candia (the ancient Crete) and Cyprus. It 

 is also a native of Greece and Turkey, and of Persia and Asia Minor. 

 It is found apparently wild in Italy ; but Pliny tells us that it was introduced 

 into that country from Greece, and first planted there in the environs of Ta- 

 rentum. Desfontaines states that he has seen it growing on Mount Atlas, 

 and in some of the gardens at Algiers. It was found in great abundance on 

 Mount Ida, and also, as is mentioned in the Bible, on Mount Sion. It 

 flourishes in various soils and surfaces, from moist bottoms to dry rocky preci- 

 pices ; but it is always found of largest size in soils which are deep and sandy, 

 rather dry than moist, somewhat sheltered, and at no great elevation above 

 the level of the sea. 



History. The upright cypress is mentioned in Holy Writ, in the Book of 

 Ecclesiasticus : — " I am exalted like the cedar in Lebanon, and like a cypress 

 on Mount Sion." The gopher wood, of which the ark was made, is also sup- 

 posed by lome to be cypress. This tree was known both to the Greeks and 

 Romans. Herodotus tells us that the Egyptians made their mummy-cases 

 of the wood. '1 heoplirastus states that it grew naturally in the Isle of Crete, 

 on the mountains covered with snow (Jlis/., lib. iv. c. ].); and that it would 

 not thrive in situations that were too warm. He adds that those who wish 

 to have the cypress flourish, must procure a little of the earth of the Isle of 

 Cyprus for it to grow in. (Lib. r. c. J -.) Thueydidei says that the Greeks 

 who died for tlxii country bad their ashei preserved in cypress. According 



