chap. cxni. coni'feRjE. cupri/ssus. 2485 



which, when they exceed J 8 ft. or 20 ft. in height, proves how much they are 

 affected by the barrenness of the soil. From these particulars an idea may be 

 formed of the situations and soils in which the deciduous cypresses are found, 

 over an extent of more than 1500 miles, from their first appearance in 

 the north, to the Mississippi. Michaux adds that he has some reason to 

 believe that the deciduous cypress is found as far south as the mouth of the 

 Rio del Norte, lat. 36°; which, if we measure the circuit of the Gulf of 

 Mexico, makes a range for this tree of more than 3000 miles. (Michx.) 



History. The deciduous cypress appears to have been introduced before 

 1640; as Parkinson, writing in that year, speaks of it. " The Americane ci- 

 presseis, as it is said, in sundrie countries of the North America ; its seed was 

 brought by Master Tradescant from Virginia, and sown here, and doe spring very 

 bravely." (Park. Theat., &c, p. 1477.) Miller, speaking of this tree, says : 

 " One in the gardens of John Tradescant, in South Lambeth, near Vauxhall, 

 is upwards of 30 ft. high, and of considerable bulk ; and, though in a common 

 yard at present, where no care is taken of it, but, on the contrary, many hooks 

 are driven into the trunk to fasten cords thereto for drying clothes, yet the 

 tree is in great health and vigour, but has not produced any fruit as yet, 

 which may be occasioned for want of moisture ; for we often see aquatic 

 plants will grow upon a drier soil, but yet are seldom so productive of either 

 flowers or fruit as those which remain growing in the water." (Diet., ed. 1731.) 

 In a subsequent edition, Miller says : " There is also a pretty large tree of 

 this kind now growing in the gardens of Sir Abraham Jansen, Bart., at Wim- 

 bledon, in Surrey, which has produced a great quantity of cones for some years 

 past, which, in favourable seasons, come to maturity j and the seeds have been 

 as good as those which have been brought from America. This tree was trans- 

 planted when it was very large, which has stunted its growth," and may have 

 thrown it into fruit. (See Diet., ed. 1752.) 



The deciduous cypress appears to have been introduced into Scotland 

 about 1746; as Dr. Walker, in 1776, speaks of a fine tree of it in the grounds 

 at Loudon Castle, in Ayrshire, which, he says, was then 30 years old, and 25 ft. 

 high. This tree, he adds, was " the only considerable tree of the kind in North 

 Britain. It was feathered down to the ground with branches j and is, without 

 exception, the most elegant tree of the kind to be seen in our climate. It 

 used formerly to be kept in the green-house, which, from this instance, appears 

 quite unnecessary, as the tree has never suffered in winter. It stood well 

 sheltered, and in a heavy clay soil." (Essays, &c, p. 80.) Humboldt mentions 

 that there are some trees in Mexico, which were planted in the garden of the 

 emperor there, before the Spanish invasion ; and it is probably to these that 

 Ward alludes in his Mexico. u The cypress of Montezuma," he says, " stands 

 in the gardens of Chapultipec, near Mexico ; and, as it had attained its full 

 growth when that monarch was on the throne (1520), it must now be nearly 

 400 years old. The trunk is 41 ft. in circumference, and it is so high as to 

 appear slender." At Santa Maria de Tula, in Oaxaca, is a cypress 93-| ft. in 

 circumference. 



Botanical History. Parkinson, in 1640, expresses his doubts that this 

 tree was not " a true cipresse," and suggests that it must have been called 

 so from the fragrance of the wood. It was, however, classed by Linnaeus, 

 and all succeeding botanists, as a Cupressus, till M. Richard, in the Annates 

 du Musee, torn. xvi. p. 269., constituted it a genus, under the name of Taxo- 

 dium ; which name was applied from the leaves being disposed in the same 

 manner as those of the yew. Two years afterwards, M. Mirbel and M. 

 Schubert described it as a separate genus, under the name of Schubertwi 

 (Nouv. Bull, dela Soc. Phil., iii. p. 123.) ; but the name of Taxodium having 

 been applied first, and accompanied by a scientific description, necessarily 

 takes precedence. 



Properties and Uses. The wood is universally employed, throughout the 

 United States, for the best kind of shingles ; and in Louisiana it is used 

 for almost every other purpose to which timber is applied. Nearly all the 



7x4 



