CYPRESS. 



Family: THE CONIFERS [Translator's note: now CUPRESSACEAE]. 

 Reproductive system: MONCECY, MONADELPHY. 



The common cypress tree, Cupressus sempervirens, Linn., grows fifteen or 

 twenty meters high in our southern provinces. In one variety the branches are close to the 

 trunk, but in smother they spread out. This has led some authorities to believe that these 

 are two distinct species. The leaves are smooth, green, persistent and imbricate on four 

 rows. The male and female flowers are separate but both are always on the same tree. The 

 male flowers form oblong catkins with membranous imbricate scales. The anthers are 

 sessile beneath each scale. The female flowers join together into spheres consisting of 

 woody, persistent scales and are borne on pedicels. The fruit is formed by scales joined 

 together, beneath which are small monospermous seeds. It consists of a single 

 compartment without valves. 



FLOWERS: in May. 



RANGE: The Levant, Naturalized in our southern provinces where I've often seen 

 the seeds disseminate on their own. 



NOMENCLATURE. According to some authorities the name comes from 

 Cyparissus, a young lad who according to legend was transformed into a cypress tree. 

 German, der cypressenbaum. English, cypress tree. Russian, kiparisnoe derewo. Polish, 

 cypris drzewo. Arabic, alhama. 



USES. The wood is fragrant, hard, fine-grained, uniform, with a beautiful red 

 color. It's virtually resistant to decay. The Egyptians preserved almost all of their 

 mummies in cypress coffins. Thucydides says that the Athenians chose it for coffins for 

 their heroes because it was long-lasting. 



M. Fougeroux observed that posts of this wood placed by Duhamel around a 

 melon bed at Denainvilliers in 1709 remained quite intact after sixty years of use, 



