Although locally a natural resource of great importance, southern white cedar Chama~ecyparis thyoides has remained one of our least known forest trees. Aside from brief studies by Mohr (i899), Pinchot (i899), and Krinbill (19I5), all very limited as to data, little has been done to discover the silvical characteristics of this valuable timber tree of the coastal swamps. Consequently when the Appalachian Forest Experiment Station, in cooperation with the State Foresters of Virginia, North Carolina, and New Jersey, initiated a general study 2 during the past year, facts were discovered about southern white cedar that should be of interest to both the silviculturist and the ecologist. In this brief preliminary account of these investigations it will be impossible to more than touch upon the high lights. A more detailed report will appear at a later date. Although the southern white cedar is fastidious in respect to its habitat requirements it has a great variety of associates. This variety may be indicated by mentioning only some of the more important examples in different latitudinal parts of its range: in the northern part, as far south as New Jersey, pitch pine Pinus rigida, black gum Nyssa sylvatica, gray birch Betula populifolia and red maple Acer rubrum; in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, pond pine Pinus serotina, red maple, water gum Nyssa biflora, white bay Magnolia glauca and bald cypress Taxodium distichum; in South Carolina, loblolly bay Gordonia lasianthus; in Florida and Alabama, titi Cliftonia monophylla; in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, water gum, red maple, white bay and slash pine Pinus caribaea. Nevertheless, southern white cedar exhibits a strong tendency to grow in pure evenaged stands throughout the greater part of its range. A marked characteristic of such stands is a dense tangle of shrubs and vines underneath, which makes passage difficult. The hardwood-cypress swamps surrounding the white cedar glades of the Dismal Swamp and Albemarle Sound regions of North Carolina are generally underlain by a clay or sandy clay subsoil. In the cedar glades the pro-