Bald Cypress

(Taxodium distichum)

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Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum)

Identifying Characters: The base of the tree is typically wider than the trunk and in aquatic habitats may develop "knees". The round leathery cones and the needles in a row on either side of the branch are all distinctive.

Measurements: Mature individuals of Bald Cypress range from 100 to 130 feet in height and 3 to 4 feet in diameter at breast height. A variety of Bald Cypress called Pond Cypress is shorter and smaller with trees between 25 and 50 feet in height. The Mexican variety Montezuma Bald Cypress can reach truly huge sizes with individuals 150 feet in height and 36 feet in diameter.

Cones: Cones round, leathery and wrinkled; cones mature in one year, then disintegrate; cones about 1 inch in diameter.

Needles: Needles yellow green, from 0.5 to 0.8 inches long, and arranged in two rows, one on either side of the branch; needles deciduous, falling in the autumn.

Bark: Bark light gray to red-brown, fibrous or scaly.

Native Range: The native range of Bald Cypress extends along the lower Atlantic Coastal Plain from southern Delaware to southern Florida and thence along the lower Gulf Coast Plain to southeastern Texas. Further south Bald Cypress a distinctive population of Bald Cypress ranges throughout most of Mexico. Inland, Bald
Cypress grows along the many streams of the middle and upper coastal plains and northward through the Mississippi Valley to southeastern Oklahoma, southeastern Missouri, southern Illinois, and southwestern Indiana. (Silvics of North America. 1990. Agriculture Handbook 654.)

Habitat: Bald Cypress is most common along the coastal plains of the United States in a variety of habitats including the Everglades and the swamps of the southeast. Along the Mississippi valley the species grows along streams and around small ponds. Although the Bald Cypress is typically associated with swampy habitats, it is not limited to them. In cultivation the species does very well in parks and yards.

Notes: Bald Cypress is currently treated as a single species with 3 varieties. Some systematists treat the Mexican populations as a separate population Montezuma Bald Cypress (Taxodium mucronatum) and a few individuals treat the Pond Cypress variety as a separate species, Taxodium ascendens.