Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) 2nd ed.
Part 14
A tree, shrub, or small bushy tree rarely more than 15° or 16° high, with a short trunk 2° in diameter, slender erect or spreading branches forming a handsome open head, and thin branchlets covered with close smooth bark, at first orange-colored, becoming bright reddish brown, and ultimately purple or dark brown. Bark ¼′—½′ thick, dark grayish brown, irregularly divided into narrow ridges covered with thin persistent oblong scales. Wood light, soft, not strong, light brown, with thick nearly white sapwood.
Distribution. California: dry mountain slopes usually between altitudes of 1300° and 2300° in few widely isolated stations, Red Mountain, Mendocino County, to Mt. Tamalpais, Marin County; Cedar Mountain, Alameda County; Santa Cruz Mountains, Santa Cruz County; Santa Lucia Mountains, Monterey County; often covering great areas on the hills of Marin County with dense thickets only a few feet high.
Occasionally cultivated as _C. Goveniana_ in western and southern Europe as an ornamental tree.
4. Cupressus Macnabiana A. Murr. Cypress.
_Cupressus Bakeri_ Jeps. _Cupressus nevadensis_ Abrams.
Leaves acute or rounded at apex, rounded and conspicuously glandular on the back, deep green, often slightly glaucous, usually not more than 1/16′ long. Flowers in March and April, male nearly cylindric, obtuse, with broadly ovate rounded connectives: female subglobose, with broadly ovate scales short-pointed and rounded at apex. Fruit oblong, subsessile or raised on a slender stalk, ½′—1′ long, dark reddish brown more or less covered with a glaucous bloom, slightly puberulous, especially along the margins of the 6 or rarely 8 scales, their prominent bosses thin and recurved on the lower scales, and much thickened, conical, and more or less incurved on the upper scales; seeds dark chestnut-brown, usually rather less than 1/16′ long, with narrow wings.
A tree in Oregon occasionally 80° high with a tall trunk sometimes 3½° in diameter, southward rarely more than 30° high, with a short trunk 12′—15′ in diameter, slender branches covered with close smooth compact bark, bright purple after the falling of the leaves, soon becoming dark brown; more often a shrub with numerous stems 6°—12° tall forming a broad open irregular head. Bark thin, dark reddish brown, broken into brown flat ridges, and separating on the surface into elongated thin slightly attached long-persistent scales. Wood light, soft, very close-grained.
Distribution. Rare and local, usually in small groves; dry ridges of Mount Steve and adjacent mountains up to altitudes of 5300°, Josephine County, southwestern Oregon; California; on lava beds, southeastern Siskiyou and southwestern Mono Counties (_C. Bakeri_); dry hills and low slopes, Mt. Ætna, in central Napa County; through Lake County to Red Mountain on the east side of Ukiah Valley, Mendocino County; in Trinity County between Shasta and Whiskeytown; and on the Sierra Nevada (Red Hill, Piute Mountains near Bodfish) Kern County, at an altitude of 5000° (_C. nevadensis_).
Occasionally cultivated in western and southern Europe as an ornamental tree.
5. Cupressus guadaloupensis S. Wats. Tecate Cypress.
Leaves acute, rounded and minutely glandular-pitted or eglandular on the back, light blue-green, about 1/16′ long. Fruit on stout stems ¼′—⅓′ in length, subglobose to short-oblong, ¾′—1¼′ in diameter, puberulous especially along the margins of the six or eight scales, with prominent flattened or conic acute often incurved bosses; seeds about 70 under each scale, short-oblong, nearly square, light chestnut-brown up to ¼′ in length, with a narrow wing.
A tree in California sometimes 20°—25° in height, with a short slender or on exposed mountain slopes a trunk occasionally 2° or 3° in diameter, few short spreading or ascending branches forming an open head, and light red-brown lustrous branchlets becoming purplish. Bark smooth, lustrous, without resin or fibres, mahogany brown, the thin scales in falling leaving pale marks.
Distribution. San Diego County, California, rare and local; valley of the San Luis Rey River between Valley Centre and Pala; at altitudes between 1100° and 4000° in the gulches and on the summit of Mt. Tecate on the border between the United States and Lower California; on a mountain below Descanso and Pine Valley; in Cedar Cañon between El-nido and Dulzura; in Lower California on San Pedro Mártir Mountain and Guadaloupe Island. The insular form is a larger tree often with larger gland-pits on the leaves, and now often cultivated in California, western Europe, and in other countries with temperate climates.
6. Cupressus arizonica Greene. Cypress.
Leaves obtusely pointed, rounded, eglandular or rarely glandular-pitted on the back, pale green, 1/16′ long, dying and turning red-brown in their second season, generally falling four years later. Flowers: male oblong, obtuse, their 6 or 8 stamens with broadly ovate acute yellow connectives slightly erose on the margins: female not seen. Fruit on stout pedicels ¼′—½′ in length, subglobose, rather longer than broad, wrinkled, dark red-brown and covered with a glaucous bloom, the six or eight scales with stout flattened incurved prominent bosses; seeds oblong to nearly triangular, dark red-brown, 1/16′—⅛′ long with a thin narrow wing.
A conical tree 40°—70° high with a trunk 2°—4° in diameter, and stout spreading branches covered with bark separating into thin plates, leaving a smooth red surface, and branchlets dark gray after the leaves fall. Bark on young trunks separating into large irregular curling thin scales, on old trees becoming dark red-brown and fibrous.
Distribution. Mountains above Clifton, Greenlee County, eastern Arizona; on the San Francisco Mountains, Socorro County, and San Luis Mountains, Grant County, western New Mexico; and in Chihuahua. Passing into
Cupressus arizonica var. bonita Lemm.
_Cupressus glabra_ Sudw.
Differing from the type in the prominent oblong or circular glandular depressions on the backs of the leaves.
A tree 30°—70° high, with a trunk 18′—24′ or rarely 5° in diameter, erect branches forming a rather compact conical head. Bark of the trunk and large branches thin, smooth, dark reddish brown, separating into small curled scale-like plates, becoming on old trees dark gray and fibrous. Wood heavy, hard, pale straw color with lighter-colored sapwood, durable in contact with the ground, somewhat used for fence-posts, corral-piles, mine-timbers and in log cabins.
Distribution. Gravelly slopes and moist gulches often in groups of considerable size at altitudes between 4000° and 7000°, Arizona; near Camp Verde, Tonto Basin; Natural Bridge, Payson, etc.; on the Chiracahua Mountains (_J. W. Toumey_, July, 1894); on the Santa Rita and Santa Catalina Mountains, and in Oak Creek Cañon twenty miles south of Flagstaff (_P. Lowell_, June, 1911).
Now often cultivated in western Europe as _C. arizonica_.
12. CHAMÆCYPARIS.
Tall resinous pyramidal trees, with thin scaly or deeply furrowed bark, nodding leading shoots, spreading branches, flattened, often deciduous or ultimately terete branchlets 2-ranked in one horizontal plane, pale fragrant durable heartwood, thin nearly white sapwood, and naked buds. Leaves scale-like, ovate, acuminate, with slender spreading or appressed tips, opposite in pairs, becoming brown and woody before falling, on vigorous sterile branches and young plants needle-shaped or linear-lanceolate and spreading. Flowers minute, monœcious, terminal, the two sexes on separate branchlets; the male oblong, of numerous decussate stamens, with short filaments enlarged into ovate connectives decreasing in size from below upward and bearing usually 2 pendulous globose anther-cells; the female subglobose, composed of usually 6 decussate peltate scales bearing at the base of the ovuliferous scales 2—5 erect bottle-shaped ovules. Fruit an erect globose cone maturing at the end of the first season, surrounded at the base by the sterile lower scales of the flowers, and formed by the enlargement of the ovule-bearing scales, abruptly dilated, club-shaped and flattened at the apex, bearing the remnants of the flower-scales as short prominent points or knobs; persistent on the branches after the escape of the seeds. Seeds 1—5, erect on the slender stalk-like base of the scale, subcylindric and slightly compressed; seed-coat of 2 layers, the outer thin and membranaceous, the inner thicker and crustaceous, produced into broad lateral wings; cotyledons 2, longer than the superior radicle.
Chamæcyparis is confined to the Atlantic and Pacific coast regions of North America, and to Japan and Formosa. Six species are distinguished. Of exotic species the Japanese Retinosporas, _Chamæcyparis obtusa_ Endl., and _Chamæcyparis pisifera_ Endl., with their numerous abnormal forms are familiar garden plants in all temperate regions.
_Chamæcyparis_ is from χαµαί, on the ground, and κυπάρισσος, cypress.
CONSPECTUS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES.
Bark thin, divided into flat ridges; Branchlets slender, often compressed; leaves dull blue-green, usually conspicuously glandular. 1. C. thyoides (A, C). Branchlets stout, slightly flattened or terete; leaves dark blue-green, usually without glands. 2. C. nootkatensis (B, G). Bark thick, divided into broad rounded ridges; branchlets slender, compressed; leaves bright green, conspicuously glandular. 3. C. Lawsoniana (G).
1. Chamæcyparis thyoides B. S. P. White Cedar.
_Cupressus thyoides_ L.
Leaves closely appressed, or spreading at the apex especially on vigorous leading shoots, keeled and glandular or conspicuously glandular-punctate on the back, dark dull blue-green or pale below, at the north becoming russet-brown during the winter, 1/16′—⅛′ long, dying during the second season and then persistent for many years. Flowers: male composed of 5 or 6 pairs of stamens, with ovate connectives rounded at apex, dark brown below the middle, nearly black toward the apex: female subglobose, with ovate acute spreading pale liver-colored scales and black ovules. Fruit ¼′ in diameter, sessile on a short leafy branch, light green, covered with a glaucous bloom when fully grown, later bluish purple and very glaucous, finally becoming dark red-brown, its scales terminating in ovate acute, often reflexed bosses; seeds 1 or 2 under each fertile scale, ovoid, acute, full and rounded at the base, slightly compressed, gray-brown, about ⅛′ long, with wings as broad as the body of the seed and dark red-brown.
A tree, 70°—80° high, with a tall trunk usually about 2 and occasionally 3°—4° in diameter, or northward much smaller, slender horizontal branches forming a narrow spire-like head, and 2-ranked compressed branchlets disposed in an open fan-shaped more or less deciduous spray, the persistent branchlets gradually becoming terete, light green tinged with red, light reddish brown during their first winter, and then dark brown, their thin close bark separating slightly at the end of three or four years into small papery scales. Bark ¾′—1′ thick, light reddish brown, and divided irregularly into narrow flat connected ridges often spirally twisted round the stem, separating on the surface into elongated loose or closely appressed plate-like scales. Wood light, soft, not strong, close-grained, slightly fragrant, light brown tinged with red; largely used in boat-building and cooperage, for wooden ware, shingles, the interior finish of houses, fence-posts, and railway-ties.
Distribution. Cold swamps usually immersed during several months of the year, often forming dense pure forests; near Concord, New Hampshire, southern Maine, southward only near the coast to northern Florida, and westward to southwestern Mississippi; most abundant south of Massachusetts Bay; comparatively rare east of Boston and west of Mobile Bay.
Occasionally planted as an ornamental tree in the eastern states and in the countries of temperate Europe.
2. Chamæcyparis nootkatensis Sudw. Yellow Cypress. Sitka Cypress.
_Cupressus nootkatensis_ Lamb.
Leaves rounded, eglandular or glandular-pitted on the back, dark blue-green, closely appressed, about ⅛′ long, on vigorous leading branchlets somewhat spreading and often ¼′ long, with more elongated and sharper points, beginning to die at the end of their second year and usually falling during the third season. Flowers: male on lateral branchlets of the previous year, composed of 4 or 5 pairs of stamens, with ovate rounded slightly erose light yellow connectives: female clustered near the ends of upper branchlets, dark liver color, the fertile scales each bearing 2—4 ovules. Fruit ripening in September and October. nearly ½′ in diameter, dark red-brown, with usually 4 or 6 scales tipped with prominent erect pointed bosses and frequently covered with conspicuous resin-glands; seeds 2—4 under each scale, ovoid, acute, slightly flattened, about ¼′ long, dark red-brown, with thin light red-brown wings often nearly twice as wide as the body of the seed.
A tree, frequently 120° high, with a tall trunk 5°—6° in diameter, horizontal branches forming a narrow pyramidal head, stout distichous somewhat flattened or terete light yellow branchlets often tinged with red at first, dark or often bright red-brown during their third season, ultimately paler and covered with close thin smooth bark. Bark ½′—¾′ thick, light gray tinged with brown, irregularly fissured, and separated on the surface into large thin loose scales. Wood hard, rather brittle, very close-grained, exceedingly durable, bright clear yellow, with very thin nearly white sapwood; fragrant with an agreeable resinous odor; used in boat and shipbuilding, the interior finish of houses, and the manufacture of furniture.
Distribution. Islands of Prince William Sound, Alaska, and southward over the coast mountains of Alaska and British Columbia, and along the Cascade Mountains of Washington and Oregon to the northeastern slopes of Mt. Jefferson, extending eastward to the headwaters of the Yakima River on the eastern slope of the range; on Whiskey Peak of the Siskiyou Mountains in the southeastern corner of Josephine County, Oregon and about two miles from the California line; most abundant and of its largest size near the coast of Alaska and northern British Columbia, ranging from the sea-level up to altitudes of 3000°; at high elevations on the Cascade Mountains sometimes a low shrub.
Occasionally cultivated, with its several abnormal forms, as an ornamental tree in the middle Atlantic states and in California, and commonly in the countries of western and central Europe.
3. Chamæcyparis Lawsoniana Parl. Port Orford Cedar. Lawson Cypress.
_Cupressus Lawsoniana_ A. Murr.
Leaves bright green or pale below, conspicuously glandular on the back, usually not more than 1/16′ long on lateral branchlets, on leading shoots often spreading at the apex, ⅛′ to nearly ¼′ long, usually dying, turning bright red-brown and falling during their third year. Flowers: male with bright red connectives bearing usually 2 pollen-sacs: female with dark ovate acute spreading scales, each bearing 2—4 ovules. Fruit clustered on the upper lateral branchlets and produced in great profusion, ripening in September and October, about ⅓′ in diameter, green and glaucous when full grown, red-brown and often covered with a bloom at maturity, its scales with thin broadly ovate acute reflexed bosses; seeds 2—4 under each fertile scale, ovoid, acute, slightly compressed, ⅛′ long, light chestnut-brown, with broad thin wings.
A tree, often 200° high, with a tall trunk frequently 12° in diameter above its abruptly enlarged base, a spire-like head of small horizontal or pendulous branches clothed with remote flat spray frequently 6′—8′ long. Bark often 10′ thick at the base of old trees and 3′—4′ thick on smaller stems, dark reddish brown, with 2 distinct layers, the inner ⅛′—¼′ thick, darker, more compact, and firmer than the outer, divided into great broad-based rounded ridges separated on the surface into small thick closely appressed scales. Wood light, hard, strong, very close-grained, abounding in fragrant resin, durable, easily worked, light yellow, or almost white, with hardly distinguishable sapwood; largely manufactured into lumber used for the interior finish and flooring of buildings, railway-ties, fence-posts, and boat and shipbuilding, and on the Pacific coast almost exclusively for matches. The resin is a powerful diuretic.
Distribution. Usually scattered in small groves from the shores of Coos Bay, southwestern Oregon, south to the mouth of the Klamath River, California, ranging inland usually for about thirty miles; near Waldorf, in Josephine County, Oregon, on the slopes of the Siskiyou Mountains, and on the southern flanks of Mt. Shasta, California; most abundant north of Rogue River on the Oregon coast and attaining its largest size on the western slopes of the Coast Range foothills, forming between Point Gregory and the mouth of the Coquille River a nearly continuous forest belt twenty miles long.
Often cultivated with the innumerable forms originated in nurseries, in the middle Atlantic states and California, in all the temperate countries of Europe, and in New Zealand.
13. JUNIPERUS L. Juniper.
Pungent aromatic trees or shrubs, with usually thin shreddy bark, soft close-grained durable wood, slender branches, and scaly or naked buds. Leaves sessile, in whorls of 3, persistent for many years, convex on the lower side, concave and stomatiferous above, linear-subulate, sharp-pointed, without glands (_Oxycedrus_); or scale-like, ovate, opposite in pairs or ternate, closely imbricated, appressed and adnate to the branch, glandular or eglandular on the back, becoming brown and woody on the branch, but on young plants and vigorous shoots often free and awl-shaped (_Sabina_). Flowers minute, diœcious, axillary or terminal on short axillary branches from buds formed the previous autumn on branches of the year; the male solitary, oblong-ovoid, with numerous stamens decussate or in 3’s, their filaments enlarged into ovate or peltate yellow scale-like connectives bearing near the base 2—6 globose pollen-sacs; the female ovoid, surrounded at the base by many minute scale-like bracts persistent and unchanged under the fruit, composed of 2—6 opposite or ternate pointed scales alternate with or bearing on their inner face at the base on a minute ovuliferous scale 1 or 2 ovules. Fruit a berry-like succulent fleshy blue, blue-black, or red strobile formed by the coalition of the flower-scales, inclosed in a membranaceous skin covered with a glaucous bloom, ripening during the first, second, or rarely during the third season, smooth or marked by the ends of the flower-scales, or by the pointed tips of the ovules, closed, or open at the top and exposing the apex of the seeds. Seeds 1—12, ovoid, acute or obtuse, terete or variously angled, often longitudinally grooved by depressions caused by the pressure of resin-cells in the flesh of the fruit, smooth or roughened and tuberculate, chestnut-brown, marked below by the large conspicuous usually 2-lobed hilum; seed-coat of 2 layers, the outer thick and bony, the inner thin, membranaceous or crustaceous; cotyledons 2, or 4—6, about as long as the superior radicle.
Juniperus is widely scattered over the northern hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to the highlands of Mexico, Lower California, and the West Indies in the New World, and to the Azores and Canary Islands, northern Africa, Abyssinia, the mountains of east tropical Africa, Sikkim, central China, Formosa, Japan and the Bonin Islands in the Old World. About thirty-five species are now distinguished. Of the exotic species cultivated in the United States the most common are European forms of _Juniperus communis_ L. with fastigiate branches, and dwarf forms of the European _Juniperus Sabina_ L., and of _Juniperus chinensis_ L.
_Juniperus_ is the classical name of the Juniper.
CONSPECTUS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES.