Bald-cypress is a deciduous tree with light brown, furrowed, scaly bark and upright, spreading branches. Twigs on the lower part of the shoot are deciduous and shed with the foliage. Leaves are pinnately compound, alternate, and linear with entire margins. Flowers are monoecious. Male catkins are at least 2 inches (5 cm) long and quite conspicuous during the winter months. Fruit is a golf-ball-sized cone.
Taxodium distichum–Common Bald-Cypress
Common Bald-Cypress–Taxodium distichum
Bald-cypress is unusual in that it is a deciduous conifer that sheds its foliage during early fall. The habit of the tree is upright with spreading branches. It is large, often 100 feet in height, with a wide, buttressed, tapering trunk. It grows in wet soils, swamps, and overflow lands of the lower Ohio and Mississippi Valley regions and from Illinois southward. When growing in water, the roots develop short, tapering trunks, protruding out of the water and known as "cypress knees."
The alternate leaves are pinnately compound. Leaflets are linear with entire margins. Foliage is soft and light green with a feathery or plume-like appearance.
Bark is light brown, furrowed, and scaly. Buds are small and inconspicuous. Twigs near the end of the shoots persist, while those on the lower part of the stem are deciduous and fall with the leaves. Flowers are monoecious. Male catkins are at least 2 inches (5 cm) long and quite conspicuous during the winter months. Fruit is a golf-ball-sized cone that matures in the fall.
Bald-cypress has been planted in Ohio as an ornamental tree and to a limited degree for timber purposes. Lumber has excellent decay resistance. Many beautiful specimens of the bald-cypress are found growing in the Cincinnati, Chillicothe, and Marietta areas and have shown value as street trees. This tree's tolerance of flooding is very high.
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| Common Bald-Cypress | ||