the largest genus of the order, the sedges, is widely distributed in the temperate, alpine and arctic regions of both hemispheres, and is represented by 60 species in Britain. Carex arenaria, the sea-bent, grows on sand-dunes and helps to bind the sand with its long cord-like underground stem which branches widely. Scirpus lacustris (fig. 3, 1) the true bulrush, occurs in lakes, ditches and marshes; it has a spongy, green, cylindrical stem, reaching nearly an inch in thickness and 1 to 8 ft. high, which is usually leafless with a terminal branched inflorescence. Eriophorum (fig. 3), cotton grass, is represented in Britain by several species in boggy land; they are small tufted herbs with cottony heads due to the numerous hair-like bristles which take the place of the perianth and become much elongated in the fruiting stage.
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| Fig. 2.—Carex riparia, the largest British sedge, from 3 to 5 ft. high. 1, Male flower of Carex; 2, female flower of Carex; 3, seed of Carex, cut lengthwise. |
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| Fig. 3.—Inflorescence of Cotton-grass (Eriophorum polystachion), about 23 nat. size. 1, Flower of true bulrush (Scirpus lacustris). |
CY-PRÈS (A.-Fr. for “so near”), in English law, a principle
adopted by the court of chancery in dealing with trusts for
charitable purposes. When the charitable purpose intended by a
testator cannot be carried into effect, the court will apply the
funds to some other purpose, as near the original as possible
(whence the name). For instance, a testator having left a fund
to be divided into four parts—one-fourth to be used for “the
redemption of British slaves in Turkey and
Barbary,” and the other three-fourths for
various local charities—it was found that
there were no British slaves in Turkey or
Barbary, and as to that part of the gift
therefore the testator’s purpose failed. Instead
of allowing the portion of the fund
devoted to this impossible purpose to lapse
to the next of kin, the court devoted it to
the purposes specified for the rest of the
estate. This doctrine is only applied where
“a general intention of charity is manifest”
in the will, and not where one particular
object only was present to the mind of the
testator. Thus, a testator having left money
to be applied in building a church in a particular
parish, and that having been found to
be impossible, the fund will not be applied
cy-près, but will go to the next of kin.
In the United States, charitable trusts have become more frequent as the wealth of the country has progressed, and are regarded with increasing favour by the courts. The cy-près doctrine has been either expressly or virtually applied to uphold them in several of the states, and in some there has been legislation in the same direction. In others the doctrine has been repudiated, e.g. in Michigan, Tennessee, Indiana and Virginia. For many years the New York courts held that this doctrine was not in force there, but in 1893 the legislature repealed the provisions of the revised statutes on which these decisions rested and restored the ancient law. Statutes passed in Pennsylvania have established the doctrine there, and dissolved any doubt as to its being in force in that state.
CYPRESS (Cupressus), in botany, a genus of fifteen species
belonging to the tribe Cupressineae, natural order Coniferae,
represented by evergreen aromatic trees and shrubs indigenous
to the south of Europe, western Asia, the Himalayas, China,
Japan, north-western and north-eastern America, California
and Mexico. The leaves of the cypresses are scale-like, overlapping
and generally in four rows; the 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 resin, but no turpentine.
C. sempervirens, the 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 wild. It is a tapering, flame-shaped tree resembling the Lombardy poplar; its branches are thickly covered with small, imbricated, shining-green leaves; the male catkins are about 3 lines in length; the cones are between 1 and 112 in. in diameter, sessile, and generally in pairs, and are made up of large angular scales, slightly convex exteriorly, and with a sharp point in the centre. In Britain the tree grows to a height of 40 ft., in its native soil to 70 or 90 ft. It thrives best on a dry, deep, sandy loam, on airy sheltered sites at no great elevation above the sea. It was introduced into Great Britain before the middle of the 16th century. In the climate of the south of England its rate of growth when young is between 1 and 112 ft. a year. The seeds are sown in April, and come up in three or four weeks; the plants require protection from frost during their first winter.
The timber of the cypress is hard, close-grained, of a fine reddish hue, and very durable. Among the ancients it was in request for poles, rafters, joists, and for the construction of wine-presses, tables and musical instruments; and on that account was so valuable that a plantation of cypresses was considered a sufficient dowry for a daughter. Owing to its durability the wood was employed for mummy cases, and images of the gods;
