Taxodium distichum - Bald Cypress

General Information Common Name  Bald Cypress Scientific Name  Taxodium distichum Sun Tolerance  Full Sun Height  30 - 35 m (100 - 120 ft) Spread  6 - 10 m (20 - 33 ft) Growth Rate  Slow Bloom Time  Winter Color  Green, Flower Color  Brown Type  Tree Native  USA.

Classification Kingdom  Plantae – Plants Subkingdom  Tracheobionta – Vascular plants Superdivision Spermatophyta – Seed plants Division  Coniferophyta – Conifers Class  Pinopsida Subclass  Order  Pinales Family  Cupressaceae – Cypress Family Genus  Taxodium  –  Cypress Species  T. distichum

Taxodium distichum - Bald Cypress

Taxodium distichum commonly known as Bald Cypress, also known Cypress or Southern Cypress, Gulf Cypress, Red Cypress that grows on saturated and seasonally inundated soils in the lowlands of southeastern and Gulf Coastal Plains of United States.

It is a slow growing large tree is generally grows to 30 – 35 m (100 – 120 ft) in height and trunk diameter is 1 – 2 m (3.3 – 6.6 ft). Sometime it grows up to 44 m (145 ft) in height found in near Williamsburg, Virginia. The trunk is surrounded by many cypress knees. The bark is reddish brown, thin and fibrous with a stringy texture; when the tree is young and become greyish brown with furrowed when grow older. It has a vertically studded pattern of shallow ridges and narrow furrows. The needle-shaped foliage is light green and soft. The Bald Cypress can thrive in wet soil and even standing in the water. Then it produces so-called cypress knees, woody structures from the root system which appear above the water level. It is a long living tree, there are specimens estimated to be nearly 2,000 years old at Sky Lake in Humphreys County, Mississippi, but precisely determining age is difficult because the core of older trees are often rotten.

The Bald Cypress is deciduous tree. Leaves are green but become orange in fall are alternate and linear, with flat blades borne on the twigs that are spirally arranged on the stalks, but raveled at the base to lie in two horizontally. They are 1 – 2 cm (0.4 – 0.8 in) long and 1 – 2 mm broad. This species in the family Cupressaceae, it loses its leaves in winter, therefor the appellation of “bald”.

It is monoecious so that both sexes’ flowers are found in the same tree. The male and female flowers forming on slender, tassel-like structures near the edge of branchlets. The male and female strobili are produced from buds formed in late autumn, with pollination in early winter. They become mature in about 12 months. The male catkins are about 10 cm (4 in) long. The young seed cones are green and become grayish brown when mature. They are globular in shape and 2 -3.5 (0.8 – 1.5 in) in diameter. They have from 20 – 30 spirally arranged, four-sided scales, each contain one or two sometime three triangular seeds. There are around 20 – 40 seeds are in every cones. The cones crush when mature and release the large seeds. The seeds are the largest of any species of Cupressaceae, 5 – 10 mm long and are produced every year, with heavy crops every 3 – 5 years.

T. distichum is popular ornamental tree that is cultivated for its light, feathery foliage and orange to dull red autumnal color. Cultivation is successful far north of its native range, even to southern Canada. It’s also commonly planted in Europe, Asia and other temperate and subtropical locales as an ornamental plant in the park or roadside. 

Taxodium distichum - Bald Cypress in Fall

Young Plant of Bald Cypress

Taxodium distichum Young Plant

Leaves of Bald Cypress

Taxodium distichum Leaves

Male Flowers of Bald Cypress

Female Cones of Bald Cypress

Taxodium distichum Female Cones

Bald Cypress Female Cones

Bark of Bald Cypress

Taxodium distichum Log

Knees of Bald Cypress

Taxodium distichum Knee

Ornamental Plant of Bald Cypress

Taxodium distichum Ornamental Plant

Taxodium distichum - Bald Cypress

Taxodium distichum - Bald Cypress

Taxodium distichum - Bald Cypress in Park

Taxodium distichum - Bald Cypress in the Park

Taxodium distichum - Bald Cypress

Taxodium distichum - Bald Cypress Deciduous 

Taxodium distichum - Bald Cypress

Taxodium distichum - Bald Cypress

Taxodium distichum - Bald Cypress

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