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CYPRESS (Cupressus)

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Originally appearing in Volume V07, Page 694 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CYPRESS (Cupressus) , in See also:botany, a genus of fifteen See also:species belonging to the tribe Cupressineae, natural See also:order Coniferae, represented by See also:evergreen aromatic trees and shrubs indigenous to the See also:south of See also:Europe, western See also:Asia, the Himalayas, See also:China, See also:Japan, See also:north-western and north-eastern See also:America, See also:California and See also:Mexico. The leaves of the cypresses are See also:scale-like, over-lapping and generally in four rows; the See also:female catkins are roundish, and fewer than the male; the cones consist of from six to ten peltate woody scales, which end in a curved point, and open when the seeds are ripe; the seeds are numerous and winged. All the species exude See also:resin, but no See also:turpentine. C. sempervirens, the See also:common cypress, has been well known throughout the Mediterranean region since classic times; it may have been introduced from western Asia where it is found See also:wild. It is a tapering, See also:flame-shaped See also:tree resembling the See also:Lombardy See also:poplar; its branches are thickly covered with small, imbricated, shining-See also:green leaves; the male catkins are about 3 lines in length; the cones are between 1 and 12 in. in See also:diameter, sessile, and generally in pairs, and are made up of large angular scales, slightly See also:convex exteriorly, and with a See also:sharp point in the centre. In See also:Britain the tree grows to a height of 40 ft., in its native See also:soil to .70 or 90 ft. It thrives best on a dry, deep, sandy See also:loam, on See also:airy sheltered sites at no See also:great See also:elevation above the See also:sea. It was introduced into Great Britain before the See also:middle of the 16th See also:century. In the See also:climate of the south of See also:England its See also:rate of growth when See also:young is between 1 and 12 ft. a See also:year. The seeds are sown in See also:April, and come up in three or four See also:weeks; the See also:plants require See also:protection from See also:frost during their first See also:winter. The See also:timber of the cypress is hard, See also:close-grained, of a See also:fine reddish See also:hue, and very durable. Among the ancients it was in See also:request for poles, rafters, joists, and for the construction of See also:wine-presses, tables and musical See also:instruments; and on that See also:account was so valuable that a See also:plantation of cypresses was considered a sufficient See also:dowry for a daughter.

Owing to its durability the See also:

wood was employed for See also:mummy cases, and images of the gods the largest genus of the order, the sedges, is widely distributed in the temperate, alpine and See also:arctic regions of both hemispheres, and is represented by 6o species in Britain. Carex arenaria, the sea-See also:bent, grows on See also:sand-See also:dunes and See also:helps to bind the sand in lakes, ditches and marshes; it cylindrical See also:stem, reaching nearly and 1 to 8 ft. high, which is usually branched inflorescence. Eriophorum is represented in Britain by several species in boggy See also:land; they are small tufted herbs with cottony heads due to the numerous See also:hair-like bristles which take the See also:place of the perianth and become much elongated in the fruiting See also:stage. CY-PRES (A.-Fr. for " so near "), in See also:English See also:law, a principle adopted by the See also:court of See also:chancery in dealing with See also:trusts for charitable purposes. When the charitable purpose intended by a with its See also:long See also:cord-like underground stem which branches widely. Scirpus lacustris (fig. 3, r) the true See also:bulrush, occurs has a spongy, green, an See also:inch in thickness leafless with a terminal (fig. 3), See also:cotton grass, a statue of See also:Jupiter carved out of cypress is stated by See also:Pliny to have existed 600 years without showing signs of decay. The cypress doors of the See also:ancient St See also:Peter's at See also:Rome, when removed by See also:Eugenius IV., were about 1100 years old, but nevertheless in a See also:state of perfect preservation. See also:Laws were engraved on cypress by the ancients, and See also:objects of value were preserved in receptacles made of it; thus See also:Horace speaks of poems See also:levi servanda cupresso. The cypress, which grows no more when once cut down, was regarded as a See also:symbol of the dead, and perhaps for that See also:reason was sacred to See also:Pluto; its branches were placed by the Greeks and See also:Romans on the funeral pyres and in the houses of their departed See also:friends. Its supposed See also:ill-boding nature is alluded to in See also:Shakespeare's See also:Henry VI., where See also:Suffolk desires for his enemies " their sweetest shade, a See also:grove of cypress trees." The cypress was the tree into which Cyparissus, a beautiful youth beloved by See also:Apollo, was transformed, that he might grieve to all See also:time (See also:Ovid, Met. x.

3). In See also:

Turkish cemeteries the cypress " Dark tree, still sad when others' grief is fled, The only See also:constant mourner o'er the dead " is the most striking feature, the See also:rule being to plant one for each interment. The tree grows straight, or nearly so, and has a gloomy and forbidding, but wonderfully stately aspect. With advancing See also:age its foliage becomes of a dark, almost See also:black hue. See also:William See also:Gilpin calls the cypress an architectural tree: " No See also:Italian See also:scene," says he, " is perfect without its tall See also:spiral See also:form, appearing as if it were but a See also:part of the picturesquely disposed edifices which rise from the middle ground against the distant landscape." The cypress of Somma, in Lombardy, is believed to have been in existence in the time of See also:Julius See also:Caesar; it is about 121 ft. in height, and 23 ft. in circumference. See also:Napoleon, in making the road over the Simplon, deviated from the straight See also:line in order to leave it See also:standing. The cypress, as the See also:olive, is found everywhere in the dry hollows and high eastern slopes of See also:Corfu, of the scenery of which it is characteristic. As an ornamental tree in Britain the cypress is useful to break the outline formed by See also:round-headed See also:low shrubs and trees. The berosh, or beroth, of the See also:Hebrew Scriptures, translated " See also:fir " in the authorized.version, in r See also:Kings v. 8 and vi. 15, 2 Chron. ii. 8 and many other passages, is supposed to signify the cypress.

The common or tall variety of C. sempervirens is known as C. fastigiata; the other variety, C. horizontaliy, which is little planted in England, is distinguished by its horizontally spreading branches, and its likeness to the See also:

cedar. The species C. torulosa of North See also:India, so called from its See also:twisted bark, attains an See also:altitude of 150 ft.; its branches are erect or ascending, and grow so as to form a perfect See also:cone. In the See also:Kulu and Ladakh See also:country the tree is sacred to the deities of the elements. It has been introduced into England, but does not thrive where the winter is severe. The wood, which in See also:Indian temples is burnt as See also:incense, is yellowish-red, close-grained, tough, hard, readily worked, durable, and equal in quality to that of the deodar. Another species, C. lusitanica or glauca, the " cedar of See also:Goa," is a See also:hand-some tree, 50 ft. in height when full-grown, with spreading branches drooping at their extremities; it has been much planted in See also:Portugal, especially in the neighbourhood of See also:Cintra. Its origin is doubtful. It was well established in Portugal before the middle of the 17th century, and has since been cultivated generally in the south of Europe, but is nowhere believed to be indigenous. The name " cedar of Goa " is misleading, as no cypress is found wild anywhere near Goa. It was.cultivated in England in the 17th century, and the name C. lusitanica was given by See also:Philip See also:Miller, the See also:curator of the See also:Chelsea Physick See also:garden, in 1768, in reference to its supposed Portuguese origin. Experience has shown this cypress to be too See also:tender for See also:British climate generally, though See also:good specimens are to be found in the milder climate of the south and See also:west of England and in See also:Ireland. The species G.

Lawsoniana, the See also:

Port See also:Orford cedar, a native of south See also:Oregon and north California, where it attains a height of See also:loo ft., was introduced into See also:Scotland in 1854; it is much grown for ornamental purposes in Britain, a large number of varieties of garden origin being distinguished by See also:differences in See also:habit and by See also:colour of foliage. Other Californian cypressesare C. macrocarpa, the See also:Monterey cypress, which is 6o ft. high when mature, with a habit suggesting that of cedar of See also:Lebanon, and C. Joveniana and C. Macnabiana, smaller trees generally from 20 to 30 ft. in height. C. funebris is a native of the north of China, where it is planted near pagodas. C. nootkaensis, the See also:Nootka See also:Sound cypress or See also:Alaska cedar, was introduced into Britain in 1850. It is a See also:hardy species, reaching a height of from 8o to roo ft. Several varieties are distinguished by habit and colour of foliage. C, oblusa, a native of Japan, is a tall tree reaching roo ft. in height, and widely planted by the See also:Japanese for its timber, which is one of the best for interior construction. It is also cultivated by them as a decorative plant, in many forms, including See also:dwarf forms not exceeding a See also:foot in height. The "See also:deciduous cypress," " swamp cypressor "bald cypress," Taxodium distichum, is another member of the order Coniferae (tribe Taxodineae), a native of the See also:southern See also:United States and Mexico. It is a lofty tree reaching a height of 170 ft. or more, with a massive See also:trunk ro to 15 ft. or more in diameter, growing in or near See also:water or on low-lying land which is subject to periodical flooding.

The See also:

lower part of the trunk bears huge buttresses, each of which ends in a long branching far-spreading See also:root, from the branches of which See also:spring the See also:peculiar knees which rise above the level of the water. The knees are of a soft spongy texture and See also:act as breathing See also:organs, supplying the roots with See also:air, which they would otherwise be unable to obtain when submerged. The stout horizontally spreading branches give a cedar-like See also:appearance; the foliage is See also:light and feathery; the leaves and the slender shoots which See also:bear them fall in the autumn. The cones, about the See also:size of a small See also:walnut, bear spirally arranged imbricated scales which subtend the three-angled winged seeds. The wood is light, soft, straight-grained and easily worked; it is very durable in contact with the soil, and is used for railway-ties, posts, See also:fencing and for construction. The deciduous cypress was one of the first See also:American trees introduced into England; it is described by See also:John See also:Parkinson in his Herbal of 1640. It thrives only near water or where the soil is permanently moist.

End of Article: CYPRESS (Cupressus)

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