The Northern Cypress, or White Cedar, is a more stately tree than the
juniper, but it is never seen by our waysides; it will thrive only in
swampy soils. This is the tree that covers those extensive morasses
known as cedar swamps, which are, perhaps, the best examples extant of
the primitive forest. The White Cedar is not often called the Cypress in
New England, and in general appearance, and especially in the style of
its foliage, bears but little resemblance to the Southern Cypress; but
its similarity to the juniper is very striking. It is a taller tree than
the European Cypress. By some botanists it is classed with the
arbor-vitæ.
This tree is not confined to inland moors, but is often found upon
marshes which are overflowed by the tide of the ocean. Cedar swamps are
common in all the maritime parts of the country. In many of them in New
England the trees are so closely set that it is difficult to traverse
them. Their wetness presents another obstacle to the traveller, except
in winter, when the water is frozen, or in the driest part of summer. In
these swamps there is a covering, in some parts, of bog-moss, from six
inches to a foot deep, always charged with moisture, in which are
embedded several half-parasitic plants, such as the white orchis. The
White Cedar constitutes with the southern cypress the principal timber
of the Great Dismal Swamp, and is the last tree, except the red maple,
which is discovered when travelling through an extensive morass.
Michaux remarks that in the Southern swamps which are occupied by the
Northern and Southern Cypress, the former “are observed to choose the
centre of the swamps, and the southern cypresses the circumference.” In
the region of the southern cypress the cedar swamps are skirted by the
tupelo and the red maple. There is but little superficial resemblance
between the two cypresses. The foliage of the Northern tree is
evergreen. “Each leaf,” says Michaux, “is a little branch numerously
subdivided, and composed of small, acute, imbricated scales, on the back
of which a minute gland is discovered with the lens. In the angle of
these ramifications grow the flowers, which are scarcely visible, and
which produce very small rugged cones of a greenish tint, that change to
bluish towards the fall, when they open to release the fine seeds.”