CUPRESSUS. 
cf a dun colour, and produced into a very narrow rim 
furrounding the nut; it is one-celled, valvelefs, and is 
eafily cut with a krfife. Seed linear-oblong, fubcolumnar, 
bay-coloured. Native of the Levant, Candia, Rhodes, 
Malta, &c. Carinthia, Apulia, where Dr. Symonds in¬ 
forms us it is very frequent, and that he faw trees thirty 
feet high on monte Gargano; in fome parts of the Ruf¬ 
fian empire ; in China, and probably in many provinces 
of Alia. 
We learn from Turner, that it was cultivated here in 
Sion garden, in 1551. Gerarde alfo mentions its growing at 
Sion, Greenwich, and at Hampflead, in the garden ofmaf- 
ter Waide, one of the clerks of her majefty’s privy council. 
It is faid that there are ftill growing in the garden of the 
palace of Generalife at Grenada, feveral fuperb and lofty 
cypreftes, which were large trees in the reign of Andeli, 
the laft Mooriffi king, three centuries ago. Thefe trees 
are Hill called los cyprejfes de la regna Jultana , from the 
princefs having been faifely accufed of committing adul¬ 
tery under them with Abencerrage. The cyprefs will 
live to a great age, if what Pliny fays be true, that there 
were in his time at Rome trees more ancient than the 
city itfelf. Modern Rome boafts fome very fine cyprelfes 
by the palaces and in the gardens of fome of the villas, 
though not of fuch high antiquity; and no tree blends 
fo well as this with Hone buildings. 
Mr. Miller diftinguiffies fpecifically the upright from 
the fpreading cyprefs, calling the latter C. horizon- 
talis. According to his account, the firft of thefe trees 
is very common in mod of the old gardens in England, 
but at prefent is not fo much in requeft as formerly, 
though it is not without its advantages; nor fliould it be 
entirely rejected, although many perfons are of that opi¬ 
nion ; for it ferves to add to the beauty of wildernelTes, 
or clumps of evergreens; and where they are properly 
difpofed, they have their beauties. It was formerly 
planted in borders of pleafure-gardens, and kept Ihorn 
into a pyramidal or conic form ; and fome people, believ¬ 
ing them fubjedl to be killed if they cut them, tied them 
up with cords into a pyramidal figure, which form they 
are naturally difpofed to grow in ; but this winding them 
about, prevented the air from entering the inward parts 
of the branches, fo that the leaves decayed, and became 
unfightly, and greatly retarded their growth. And thofe 
which are flieared, if the operation is not performed in 
the fpring, or early in the furiimer, are very fubjedl to 
be injured by fharp winds and cutting frofts in winter. 
Wherefore, upon the whole, it is much better to fuffer 
them to grow wild as they are naturally difpofed, plant¬ 
ing them only amongft other evergreen trees, where, 
by the darkneis of their green leaves, together with their 
waving heads, they will greatly add to the variety. 
The fecond is by far the largeft growing tree, and is 
the molt common timber in fome parts of the Levant. 
This, if planted upon a warm, fandy, gravelly, foil, will 
profper wonderfully ; and,.though the plants of this fort 
are not fo finely fhaped as thole of the firfi:, yet they 
greatly recompenfe for that defect by their vigorous 
growth and ftrength, in refilling all weathers. This tree 
is very proper to intermix with evergreens of a fecond 
lize next to pines and firs, to form clumps ; in which 
clafs it will keep pace with the trees of the fame line, 
and be very handfome. Belides, the wood of this tree 
is very valuable, when grown to a fize fit for planks, 
which it will do in as (hort a fpace as oaks ; there¬ 
fore, why fliould not this be cultivated for that pur- 
pofe, fince there are many places in England where the 
foil is of a fandy or gravelly nature, and feldom pro¬ 
duces any thing worth cultivating? Now, in fuch places 
thefe trees will thrive wonderfully, and greatly add to 
the pleafure of the owner, while growing, and afterwards 
render as much profit to his fuccelTors, as perhaps the 
beft plantation of oaks; efpecially fhould the timber 
prove as good here as in the iflands of the Archipelago, 
which we fee no reafon to doubt of; we find it was fo 
47.5 
gainful a commodity to the ifland of Candia, that the 
plantations were called dos filial, the felling of one of them 
being reckoned a daughter’s portion. “ The March and 
April winds,” fays Mr, Evelyn, “ in 1663 and 1665, ac¬ 
companied with cruel frofts and cold blafts for more than 
two months, did not, amongft near a thoufand cyprelfes 
growing in my garden, kill above three or four, which 
had been cut the latter end of Odtober. As for the froft 
of thofe winters, than which, I believe, there was never 
known a more cruel and deadly piercing one fince Eng¬ 
land had a name, it did not touch a cyprefs of mine, 
till it joined forces with that deftrudlive wind.” 
Notwithftanding the above recommendation of Miller, 
and the account of its hardinefs by Evelyn, the cyprefs 
has never been planted in any quantity among 11s, evi¬ 
dently becaufe it cannot refill the attacks of our winter 
frofts and fpring blafts. The timber of this tree is faid 
to refill the worm, moth, and all putrefadlion, and is faid 
to laft many hundred years. The doors of St. Peter’s 
church at Rome were framed of this material, which 
hilled from Conftantine to pope Eugenios IVth’s time, 
which was eleven hundred years, and were then found 
and entire, when the pope changed them for gates of 
brafs. The coffins were made of this material, in which 
Thucydides tells us the Athenians ufed to bury their 
heroes ; and the mummy chefts, brought with thofe con- 
dited bodies out of Egypt, are many of them of this 
wood. This tree is recommended for the improvement 
of the air, and a fpecific for the lungs, as fending forth 
great quantities of aromatic and balfamic feents; where- 
fore many of the ancient phyficians of the eaftern coun¬ 
tries ufed to fend their patients, who were troubled with 
weak lungs, to the illand of Candia, which at that time 
abounded with thefe trees. However that may be, the 
cyprefs is valuable on account of its wood, which is of ;t 
dulky or brownifh red colour, has a fweet fine 11, and on 
account of its hardnefs is fit for a variety of purpoles. 
“ It is fit,” fays Evelyn, “ for chefts and other domeftie 
furniture ; harps and other mufical inllruments, being a 
fonorous wood ; for Hakes to vines, pales, rails, and 
planks, of which there were at Venice above four feet in 
breadth. In Crete and Malta it is ufed in building.” 
The cyprefs among the ancients was facred to Pluto and 
Proferpine, and was ufed at funerals, efpecially of per¬ 
fons of falhion. It was placed in front of the houfe, or 
in the veftibule, that no perfon who w r as to perform any 
lacred rites might enter a place polluted with a dead 
body: and the reafon affigned for its life on this melan¬ 
choly occafio-n was, that the cyprefs when once cut down 
never fprings up again. It would be an improper em¬ 
blem, therefore, in a Chriftian country. The ufc of ever¬ 
greens at funerals is yet not uncommon among us ; but 
they are fuppofed to be fignificant of immortality, at the 
fame time that their balfamic feent guards the attendants 
againft the ill fmells and infection that may be appre¬ 
hended from a putrid body. On account of its durabi¬ 
lity, Plato would have the laws and facred rites inferibed 
on cyprefs tablets: and Pliny relates (xvi. 40.) that the 
ftatue of Jupiter in the Capitol, made of this wood in 
the year of Rome 661, was found in his time. 
2. Cupreflus difticha, or deciduous cyprefs-tree : leaves 
diftich, fpreading. This fort is a native of America, 
where it grows in watery places, and riles to a prodigious 
height, and is of a wonderful bulk ; there are trees of 
this kind in America upwards of feventy feet high, and 
feveral fathoms in circumference, which trees grow con- 
ftantly in the water; therefore they may probably be of 
Angular advantage to plant in fuch fwanipy or wet foils 
where few other trees will grow, efpecially of the refin- 
ous kind. That they are very hardy in refpecl to cold, 
is evident from fome few trees of this kind which were 
formerly planted in England; particularly one in the 
gardens of John Tradefcant, at South Lambeth, “which 
(fays Miller) is upwards of thirty feet high, and of a 
confiderabie bulk; though in a common yard, where 
n® 
