( 113 ) 
CYPRESS. 
Moncecia monadelphia. Linn. Coniferæ. Jusg. 
Cupkessus DisTiCHA. C. foliis planis, quasi pinnatim distichis , (décidais), 
doribus masculis aphyllo-racemosis ; strobilis subgloboso-ovoideis. 
Taxodium Distichum. Rich. 
This species is tlie most interesting of its genus for the varied applica- 
tions of its wood and for its extraordinary dimensions in a favorable soil and 
climate. In Louisiana it is called Cypre or Cyprès , and in the Atlantic 
Southern States Cypress, and sometimes Bald Cypress. The names of 
Black and White Cypress, in the Carolinas and Georgia, are founded only 
on the quality and color of the wood. 
The banks of Indian river, a small stream that waters a part of Dela- 
ware, in latitude 38° 50', may be assumed as its northern boundary. 
Hence, in proceeding southward, it becomes constantly more abundant in 
the swamps ; hut in Maryland and Virginia it is confined to the vicinity of 
the sea, where the winter is milder and the summer more intense. Beyond 
Norfolk its limits coincide exactly with those of the pine-barrens, and in 
the Carolinas and Georgia it occupies a great part of the swamps which 
border the rivers after they have found their way from among the moun- 
tains and have entered the low lands. 
East Florida, which I have visited, is similar in its aspect to the maritime 
parts of the Southern States, except that the soil is in general more uniform ; 
hence the Long-leaved Pine and the Cypress are accompanied by a smaller 
variety of trees, and are consequently more abundant, the one on the low 
grounds and the other on the uplands. 
The Mississippi, from its mouth to the river Arkansas, a distance, in 
following its windings, of more than 600 miles, is bordered with marshes, 
which, at the annual overflowing of this mighty stream, form a vast expanse 
of waters. In Louisiana, those parts of the marshes where the Cypress 
grows almost alone, are called Cy prier es, Cypress swamps, and they some- 
times occupy thousands of acres. As in the Floridas, the swamps are 
contiguous to immeasurable plains covered with Pines, or oftener with tall 
grass mingled with other plants. In the midst of these Pine forests and 
Vol. III.— 16 
