Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich.

Southern Bald Cypress

Tree

Perennial

Vascular

Southern Bald Cypress is a large native deciduous tree in the Cypress family (Cupressaceae). It can be found throughout Alabama. Southern Bald Cypress occurs along rivers and streams, around lakes and ponds, in swamps, and in marshes. It is a large tree to 125 feet in height. The bark is dark reddish or gray brown with shallow furrows and peels in long strips. The bases of the trees are often greatly enlarged (buttressed), especially when growing in swamps. The lateral roots commonly producing “knees” (pneumatophores) which are erect aerial outgrowths specialized for gaseous exchange. Leaves are alternate, 2-ranked, linear in outline, divergent (rarely appressed), and flattened. The leaves are produced on short lateral shoots which are shed with the leaves (cladoptosic). Southern Bald Cypress is monoecious, producing pollen and seed cones on the same individual. The pollen cones are in pendent panicles and are conspicuous in winter when the leaves have been shed. The seed cones occur singly or in clusters of two or three. They are globose and shatter at maturity into 9 to 15 4-sided scales, each with 2 wingless seed. Southern Bald Cypress is an important timber tree, prized for its rot resistant wood. It is also frequently planted as a landscape tree. Although naturally occurring in water-logged soils, Southern Bald Cypress is adaptable to drier sites. It prefers acidic soils and full sun.—A. Diamond

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Native OBL (NWPL)

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