Taxodium distichum

COMMON NAME: Common Bald cypress, Swamp Cypress

FAMILY: Taxodium Family; Taxodiaceae

GROWTH HABIT: Tall tree (to 30 m) with tapered trunk and nearly horizontal branches, Crown pyramidal when young; rounded-topped in older trees.

FOLIAGE: Deciduous. Delicate yellow-green needles are alternately arranged on slender, deciduous shoots. Each need 1/4-3/4 inches long. In autumn foliage turns dull orange-brown before falling.

BUDS: Small rounded buds

BARK: Reddish-brown or grayish-brown, separating into thin shreds and shallow vertical fissures.

FRUIT: Cone. Round or ovoid, pale green at first, becoming purplish-brown. 2/3 - 1 inch in diameter. Scales attached at the center. Short stalked.

NATURAL HISTORY: Found in swamps and along stream banks.

NATIVE HABITAT: Coastal plain from southern Maryland and Delaware to Florida; west to Texas and north in the Mississippi River Valley to southern Illinois an Indiana