164 



FLORA AND SYLVA, 



terminates underground, in a very large, 

 strong,serpentine root, which strikes off 

 and branches every way just under the 

 surface of the earth ; from these arise 

 woody cones, called Cypress knees. The 

 large ones are hollow, and serve very 

 well for bee-hives ; a small space of the 

 tree itself is hollow, nearly as high as the 

 buttresses already mentioned. From this 

 place the tree, as it were, takes another 

 beginning, forming a grand straight 

 column 80 feet or 90 feet high. The 

 trunks of these trees,when hollowed out, 

 make large and durable canoes, and ex- 

 cellent shingles, boards, and other tim- 

 ber, adapted to every purpose in frame 

 buildings. When the planters fell the 

 trees, they raise a stage around them so 

 high as to reach above the buttresses ; 

 on this stage eight or ten negroes ascend 

 with their axes, and fall to work around 

 its trunk. I have seen trunks of these 

 trees that would measure 8 feet, 10 feet, 

 and 1 2 feet in diameter for 40 feet and 

 50 feet of straight shaft." 



The " knees" vary in 



Th Knees eSS size and number with 

 the depth of water or the 

 amount of moisture in the soil. From 

 fifty to one hundred knees spring from 



emerge from the water ; or, when the 

 tree grows in land covered with shal- 

 lower water, the knees remain low but 



4 ■ 



KNEES OF THE BALD CYPRESS. 



the roots of one tree, rising sometimes 

 to a height of 1 o or 1 2 feet in order to 



FRUITING SPRAY OF THE BALD CYPRESS. 



increase in number. Trees transplanted 

 to high dry ground often develop small 

 knees, barely rising above the soil. The 

 accepted belief is that the knees serve to 

 aerate the submerged roots, which with- 

 out their aid would be entirely deprived 

 of air. They may also serve to anchor 

 the tree in the soft muddy ground in 

 which it grows. The knees are often 

 hollow in old age, and consist of soft 

 spongy fibres covered with thin red- 

 brown bark, and are extremely light. 

 Several knees, produced near together, 

 often grow into one. The roots connect- 

 ing the trunk and the knee are thinner 

 than those beyond the knee. 



In " Silva of North Ame- 



Range. . „ 



nca Mr. Sargent says : 

 — "The Bald Cypress inhabits river- 

 swamps which are usually submerged 

 during several months of the year, the 

 low saturated banks of streams, and the 

 wet depressions of Pine barrens. It is dis- 

 tributed from southern Delaware, where 

 it grows on the banks of the Nanticoke 

 River near Seaford, and covers the great 



