Common Name: Bald Cypress
Scientific Name: Taxodium distichum
Location: Blanton-Nason-Brewer
Identifying Features
Taxodium distichum (bald cypress, cypress, southern-cypress, white-cypress, tidewater red-cypress, Gulf-cypress, red-cypress, or swamp cypress) is a deciduous conifer in the family Cupressaceae that grows on saturated and seasonally inundated soils in the lowlands of the southeastern and gulf coastal plains of the United States.
Needs Distribution/Geography
Bald Cypress trees are widely distributed along the Atlantic Coastal Plain from southern Delaware to southern Florida, westward along the lower Gulf Coast Plain to southeastern Texas. They are most commonly found in Southeastern United States.
Click here to see a map of where the Bald Cypress can be found.
Uses
The species is a popular ornamental tree that is cultivated for its light, feathery foliage and orangey brown to dull red autumnal color. In cultivation it thrives on a wide range of soils, including well-drained sites where it would not grow naturally because juvenile seedlings cannot compete with other vegetation.
History
The bald cypress gets its name from its “bald” appearance in winter. It is related to the redwoods and sequoias that grow in California. Even though they are conifers, bald cypress trees are not evergreen. They lose their leaves every autumn and grow new ones in spring.
Fun Fact
The bald cypress was designated the official state tree of Louisiana in 1963.