Varro galbulus, is from 1 in. to 1 in. in diameter, sessile, and generally produced in pairs, on the sides or at the extremities of the branches; it ripens during the winter, and opens with the first warmth of spring. The cone is composed of large, angular, corky scales, slightly convex on the outside, streaked in rays, and mucronate in the centre; becoming woody and separating when ripe; on the inside, ending in a thick angular peduncle, to the extremity of which adhere 4 little nuts, which are bony, obovate, compressed, or irregularly angular, and covered with a thin membranaceous skin of a dun colour. The seed is of a bay colour, and of a linear-oblong shape. The wood is hard, fragrant, and of a remarkably fine close grain, very durable, and of a beautiful reddish hue, which Pliny says it never loses. Du Hamel says that he has observed on the bark of young cypresses small particles of a substance resembling gum tragacanth, and that he has seen bees taking great pains to detach these particles, probably to supply the glutinous matter used by them in forming their combs. The rate of growth, in the climate of London, will average, for the first 8 or 10 years, from 1 ft. to 1 ft. 6 in. a year; after which the tree grows more slowly; and, when it has attained its full size, and is between 30 ft. and 40 ft. high, it will live many years without any perceptible increase in dimensions. The largest, and probably also the oldest, evergreen cypresses in the environs of London, are at Syon, where there is one tree (probably one of those planted there by Dr. Turner, in the reign of Henry VIII.) upwards of 52 ft. high. A tree, probably contemporary with this, is now in ruins in the park at Ditton, near Windsor, said to have been 2321 planted by Cardinal Wolsey. The trunk is 8 ft. in circumference; 2322 Geography. The common evergreen cypress is a native of the islands of the Archipelago; particularly Candia (the ancient Crete) and Cyprus. It is also a native of Greece and Turkey, and of Persia and Asia Minor. It is found apparently wild in Italy; but Pliny tells us that it was introduced into that country from Greece, and first planted there in the environs of Tarentum. Desfontaines states that he has seen it growing on Mount Atlas, and in some of the gardens at Algiers. It was found in great abundance on Mount Ida, and also, as is mentioned in the Bible, on Mount Sion. It flourishes in various soils and surfaces, from moist bottoms to dry rocky precipices; but it is always found of largest size in soils which are deep and sandy, rather dry than moist, somewhat sheltered, and at no great elevation above the level of the sea. : History. The upright cypress is mentioned in Holy Writ, in the Book of Ecclesiasticus: "I am exalted like the cedar in Lebanon, and like a cypress on Mount Sion." The gopher wood, of which the ark was made, is also supposed by some to be cypress. This tree was known both to the Greeks and Romans, Herodotus tells us that the Egyptians made their mummy-cases of the wood. Theophrastus states that it grew naturally in the Isle of Crete, on the mountains covered with snow (Hist., lib. iv. c. 1.); and that it would not thrive in situations that were too warm. He adds that those who wish to have the cypress flourish, must procure a little of the earth of the Isle of Cyprus for it to grow in. (Lib. v. c. 2.) Thucydides says that the Greeks who died for their country had their ashes preserved in cypress. According to Theophrastus, it was dedicated to Pluto; because the tree, when cut down, never throws up suckers; and hence also, perhaps, the custom mentioned by Horace, of shutting up in the tomb with the dead a branch of cypress, and enveloping the body in its fronds; though some suppose it to have originated in the supposition that the balsamic odour of the cypress would neutralise the infectious exhalations proceeding from the corpse. Among the Romans, many authors mention this tree. Pliny tells several extraordinary stories respecting the durability of its wood; the statue of Jupiter in the Capitol, which was formed of cypress, had existed above 600 years, without showing the slightest symptom of decay; and the doors of the temple of Diana at Ephesus, which were also of cypress, when 400 years old, had the appearance of being quite new. He also says that, in his time, the wood was used for many rural purposes, particularly for vine-props, for which the wood of the horizontal variety was preferred. He adds that the plantations of cypress were cut down every 13 years, for poles, rafters, and joists; which made the wood so profitable, that a plantation of cypress was thought a sufficient marriage portion for a daughter; and, hence, the tree was sometimes called “dos filiæ.” (Plin., lib. xvi. c. 33.) In another place, he informs us that the Romans made verdant walls of cypress in their gardens; and also that they clipped the entire trees into a variety of forms, so as to represent a chase, a fleet of ships, and numerous other fancies. He adds that, in his time, there were standing at Rome some cypresses that were more ancient than the city itself. Plato had his code of laws engraved on cypress wood, as being more durable than brass. Vitruvius and Martial also speak of the great durability and beauty of cypress timber. Columella mentions the various rural uses of the cypress wood; and Cato (De Re Rustica) gives directions for making plantations of cypress trees, recommending the planters to procure the seed from Tarentum. The odour of the cypress was thought so balsamic, that the Eastern physicians used to send those of their patients who had weak lungs to the Isle of Crete. In the middle ages, we find this tree frequently mentioned. Leon Alberti, a celebrated Florentine architect of the fifteenth century, tells us that he found the wood of a vessel which had been submerged 1300 years, and which was perfectly sound, to be principally of cypress. The doors of St. Peter at Rome, which had lasted from the time of Constantine to that of Eugene IV. (that is, above 1100 years), were of cypress, and were found, when removed by Pope Eugene, to give place to brass, to be perfectly sound. The popes, in the middle ages, were buried in coffins of cypress wood, from the belief that it would never decay. The Turks plant cypress trees in their cemeteries, one at each end of the grave, when they inter their dead; and these are so numerous at Scutari, that the cemetery there (see fig. 2323.) resembles one vast forest of cypress. This magnificent burying-ground extends for miles in length; and, among high and turbaned tombstones, gold-lettered inscriptions, and graves ornamented with flowers, the tall evergreen cypress has a very striking effect. (Alex. Trav., p. 240.) The cemetery at Pera (see fig. 2324.) is on a comparatively level surface: it is of great extent, bordered by the sea, and thickly set, in many places, with Turkish monuments, shaded by cypress trees. The question as to whether the upright and spreading cypresses are the same, or two distinct kinds, has long engaged the attention of botanists. Theophrastus says that they degenerate into each other, and both bear seeds alike. Pliny supposes C. s. horizontàlis to be the male, and C. s. stricta to be the female; and his opinion seems to have been adopted by most of the earlier botanists. Gerard calls the upright, the tame cypress; and the spreading, the wild; but Johnson, in his edition of Gerard, seems to have supposed the upright cypress to have been made so by art. Miller, writing nearly a century later, appears to be almost of the same opinion, as he says: "The cypresses were formerly planted in the borders of pleasure-grounds, and kept shorn into a pyramidal or conic form; and some people, believing them to be subject to be killed if they cut them, tied them up with cords into a pyramidal figure, which form they are naturally disposed to grow in; but this winding them about prevented the air from entering the inward parts of the branches, so that the leaves decayed, and became unsightly, and greatly retarded their growth." Lamarck, Desfontaines, and some other French writers, assert that, if the seed of either variety be sown, the produce will consist partly of both kinds; but M. Fougeraux, in a memoir read to the Royal Agricultural Society of Paris, in 1786, asserts that he has sown the seeds of both varieties repeatedly, and has always found them come true. He adds that the spreading cypress is hardier, and furnishes wood of a better quality, from the air getting free access among the branches, which it cannot do in the upright variety. Dr. Walsh, in his "Notes on the Botany of Constantinople," published in the Horticultural Transactions for 1824, is decidedly of opinion that C. horizontàlis is a distinct species. "The character of the whole tree," he says, "is distinct and permanent. The branches project as horizontally as those of the oak; and the tree more resembles a pine than a cypress. It is in great abundance, mixed with C. sempervirens, in all the Turkish cemeteries. Whenever a Turk of respectability buries one of his family, he plants a young cypress at the head of the grave, as well because its aromatic resin qualifies the putrid effluvia of the place, as because its evergreen foliage is an emblem of immortality." The exact date of the introduction of the cypress into England is uncertain; but Turner mentions it as "growing plenteously at Syon," in the edition of his Names of Herbes which was published in 1548, when Turner was physician at Syon; and Gerard, writing in 1597, mentions that there are trees of it at "Syon, a place neere London, sometime a house of nunnes. It groweth also at Greenwich, and at other places, and likewise at Hampstead, in the garden of Mr. Wade, one of the clerkes of Her Majesties prive councell." (Herb., 1368.) As seeds are ripened abundantly in England, the tree has long been plentiful in British nurseries; and, in consequence, it has been so extensively distributed, that there is scarcely a suburban villa or a country seat in which it is not to be found. In France, in the climate of Paris, it can scarcely be considered as hardy, being killed to the ground by severe winters. It is, however, much cultivated there in pots and tubs, for the decoration of parterres and apartments, in the summer season. In this case, it is always neatly tied, so as to insure the permanence of its pyramidal form. In the south of France, as at Montpelier for example, it attains a large size; but in the north and throughout Germany, it is a green-house plant. Remarkable Cypresses. Perhaps the oldest tree of which there is any record in the world is the cypress of Soma, or Somma, in Lombardy. This celebrated tree, of which fig. 2325. is a portrait (from an original drawing kindly sent to us by Signor Manetti of Monza), is generally supposed to have been planted the year of the birth of Jesus Christ, and on this account is treated with great reverence by the inhabitants of that part of Lombardy where it grows; but the Abbé Beleze informs us that there is an ancient chronicle extant at Milan, which proves that it was a tree in the time of Julius Cæsar, B. c. 42. (See p. 169.) |