TAXODIUM DISTICHUM. 
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the utmost difficulty that the real channel of even the river can be distinguished from the number of outlets 
and inlets that wind in every direction. 
Geographical Distribution. —The genera Sequoia and Taxodium exhibit some kindred specialities in 
their present geographical distribution. Both are now confined to North America, the one to the east and 
the other to the west of the dividing range. Sequoia is restricted to a band along the western side of that 
Continent, not penetrating further than 150 miles or so from the Pacific ; but it is not an aquatic genus, 
nor is its distribution influenced by any apparent necessity to hug the seashore, but it is doubtless owing 
to former geological changes. Taxodium , 011 the other hand, is a semi-aquatic tree, and as it follows the 
banks of the rivers, it reaches much farther inland, although nowhere is it found at any great distance from 
them. 
Their limit in point of latitude is more uniform. Their northern limit is almost identical—about 38° 
N. lat. The range of Sequoia Wellingtonia is from 36° to 38° of N. lat., and that of the Red-wood about 
the same. Dr Bigelow says that “ it is found along the coast mountains of California, from near the region 
of Monterey to Russian River above the Bay of Bodega ; but whether these are its extreme limits I am 
unable to learn ” (“ Pacific Railroad Report,” vol. iv. p. 23); and Dr Torrey gives as its locality “woods in 
the coast range of mountains east of Monterey, south of which it is very rare” (“ United States and Mexican 
Boundary Survey,” vol. ii. p. 210) ; and the latitude of the mouth of the Russian River is 38° 15', and of 
Monterey about 36° 15'. Of Taxodium distichum , on the other hand, Michaux gives the banks of Indian 
River, a small stream that waters part of Delaware, in lat. 38° 50', as its northern boundary; and Nuttal says 
“ Dr G. Engelman informs me that the most northern station in the west for this tree is at the mouth of the 
Ohio, and between Carmel and Vincennes 011 the Wabash.” The latitude of the mouth of the Ohio is 37 0 
N. lat., and that between Carmel and Vincennes, 38° 3o' N. lat. The northern limit, therefore, may be taken 
as identical in both genera. The southern limit, however, is very different. Instead of being, like the 
Sequoias , confined within the brief compass of 120 miles, the Taxodiums go 1500 miles southward, at least 
as far as Oaxaca in 17 0 N. lat. Whether this difference between the Sequoias and Taxodiums may not be 
partly due to there being suitable habitats for the latter all along the eastern coast, which there is not for the 
former on the western, we cannot say; but one remarkable circumstance is, that at Oaxaca the Taxodium 
has penetrated far into the interior, if not actually crossed over the mountains to the western side of the 
dividing ridge. 
The Mississippi is its western boundary. It crosses, indeed, the actual stream, and is met with on 
both sides ; but it does not leave its vicinity, and disappears in a few miles as we go westward. It is in the 
swamps along the banks of that river in the Southern States of North America that it especially flourishes. 
To quote Michaux :— 
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“ 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 water. In Louisiana, those parts of the marshes where 
the Cypress grows almost alone, are called Cyprieres (Cypress swamps), and they sometimes occupy thousands of acres. As in the Floridas, the 
swamps are contiguous to immeasurable plains covered with Pines, or oftener with tall grass or canes mingled with other plants. In the midst of 
these Pine forests and savannas is seen, here and there, a bog or a plash of water filled with Cypresses, whose squalid appearance, when they 
exceed 18 or 20 feet in height, proves how much they are affected by the barrenness of the soil, which differs from the surrounding waste only by a 
layer of vegetable mould a little thicker upon the quartzy sand. From these particulars, a sufficiently just idea may be formed of the geographical 
situations, and of the soil in which the Cypress is found, over an extent of more than 1500 miles, from its first appearance towards the north to the 
Mississippi. Towards the south-west, my information does not reach beyond Louisiana, though I have some reason to believe that it is seen as far 
as the mouth of the river Del Norte, lat. 26° which, if we measure the circuit of the Gulf of Mexico, makes a distance of more than 3000 miles.” 
We can supply the information as to its presence in the Rio del Norte from the “ United States and 
Mexican Boundary Report” (“Geological Reports” by Dr Parry, vol. i. p. 43). Dr Parry there says— 
“ The appearance of the Cypress {Taxodium), Sabino of the Mexicans, makes quite a striking change in 
the physiognomy of the country” (the lower Rio Bravo del Norte or Rio Grande). “This water and 
rock loving tree often appears right in the middle of the swiftest currents of the river, where, having taken 
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