Taxodium distichum
Baldcypress forest in a central Mississippi lake
Conservation status
Least Concern[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Pinophyta Class: Pinopsida Order: Pinales Family: Cupressaceae Genus: Taxodium Species: T. distichum
Binomial name
Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich.

Taxodium distichum (Baldcypress, Bald Cypress, or Swamp Cypress) is a species of conifer native to the southeastern United States.^[2][3][4] Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1500x2100, 337 KB) Summary Taxodium distichum wetland in an oxbow in central Mississippi USDA photo [1] Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Taxodium List of U... This article is about the U.S. state. ... The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species remaining extant either in the present day or the near future. ... Image File history File links Status_iucn2. ... Least Concern (LC) is an IUCN category assigned to extant species or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. ... Scientific classification redirects here. ... For other uses, see Plant (disambiguation). ... Orders & Families Cordaitales † Pinales   Pinaceae - Pine family   Araucariaceae - Araucaria family   Podocarpaceae - Yellow-wood family   Sciadopityaceae - Umbrella-pine family   Cupressaceae - Cypress family   Cephalotaxaceae - Plum-yew family   Taxaceae - Yew family Vojnovskyales † Voltziales † “Conifer” redirects here. ... Orders & Families Cordaitales † Pinales   Pinaceae - Pine family   Araucariaceae - Araucaria family   Podocarpaceae - Yellow-wood family   Sciadopityaceae - Umbrella-pine family   Cupressaceae - Cypress family   Cephalotaxaceae - Plum-yew family   Taxaceae - Yew family Vojnovskyales † Voltziales † “Conifer” redirects here. ... Families Pinaceae, pine family Araucariaceae, araucaria family Podocarpaceae, yellow-wood family Phyllocladaceae Sciadopityaceae, umbrella-pine family Cupressaceae, cypress family Cephalotaxaceae, plum-yew family Taxaceae, yew family The Order Pinales in the Division Pinophyta, Class Pinopsida comprises all the extant conifers. ... Genera Actinostrobus Athrotaxis Austrocedrus Callitris - Cypress-pine Callitropsis - Cypress * (Cupressus) Calocedrus - Incense-cedar Chamaecyparis - Cypress Cryptomeria - Sugi Cunninghamia - Cunninghamia Cupressus - Cypress Diselma - Diselma Fitzroya - Alerce Fokienia - Fujian Cypress Glyptostrobus - Chinese Swamp Cypress Juniperus - Juniper Libocedrus Metasequoia - Dawn Redwood Microbiota - Microbiota Neocallitropsis Papuacedrus * (Libocedrus) Pilgerodendron * (Libocedrus) Platycladus - Chinese Arborvitae Sequoia - Coast... Species Taxodium ascendens - Pond Cypress Taxodium distichum - Bald Cypress Taxodium mucronatum - Montezuma Cypress Taxodium is a genus of one to three species (depending on taxonomic opinion) of extremely flood-tolerant conifers in the cypress family, Cupressaceae, one of several genera in the family commonly known as cypresses. ... Latin name redirects here. ... Carl Linnaeus, Latinized as Carolus Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as  , (May 13, 1707[1] – January 10, 1778), was a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist[2] who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of nomenclature. ... Louis Claude Marie Richard (September 19, 1754 - June 6, 1821) was a French botanist. ... Orders & Families Cordaitales † Pinales   Pinaceae - Pine family   Araucariaceae - Araucaria family   Podocarpaceae - Yellow-wood family   Sciadopityaceae - Umbrella-pine family   Cupressaceae - Cypress family   Cephalotaxaceae - Plum-yew family   Taxaceae - Yew family Vojnovskyales † Voltziales † “Conifer” redirects here. ...

Characteristics

Foliage

It is a large tree, reaching 25–40 m (rarely to 44 m) tall and trunk diameter of 2–3 m, rarely to 5 m. The bark is gray-brown to red-brown, shallowly vertically fissured, with a stringy texture. The leaves are borne on deciduous branchlets that are spirally arranged on the stem but twisted at the base to lie in two horizontal ranks, 1-2 cm long and 1-2 mm broad; unlike most other species in the family Cupressaceae, it is deciduous, losing the leaves in the winter months, hence the name 'bald'. It is monoecious. Male and female strobili mature in about 12 months; they are produced from buds formed in the late fall, with pollination in early winter. The seed cones are green maturing gray-brown, globular, 2-3.5 cm in diameter. They have from 20–30 spirally arranged four-sided scales, each bearing one or two (rarely three) trianglular seeds. The number of seeds per cone ranges from 20–40. The cones disintegrate when mature to release the large seeds. The seeds are 5-10 mm long, the largest of any species in the cypress family, and are produced every year but with heavy crops every three to five years. The seedlings have 3–9 (most often 6) cotyledons.^[2] Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2264x1996, 1409 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Taxodium distichum Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2264x1996, 1409 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Taxodium distichum Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to... The coniferous Coast Redwood, the tallest tree species on earth. ... For other uses, see Bark (disambiguation). ... Look up foliage in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see Deciduous (disambiguation). ... Close-up of an Echinopsis spachiana flower, showing both carpels and stamen, making it a complete flower. ... A cone (in formal botanical usage: strobilus, plural strobili) is an organ on plants in the division Pinophyta (conifers) that contains the reproductive structures. ... Mature female European Black Pine cone Male cones of a pine A cone (in formal botanical usage: strobilus, plural strobili) is an organ on plants in the division Pinophyta (conifers) that contains the reproductive structures. ... A ripe red jalapeño cut open to show the seeds For other uses, see Seed (disambiguation). ... For the plant genus, see Cotyledon (genus). ...

The largest individual specimen is "The Senator", near Longwood, Florida; it is 35 m tall, and with a trunk diameter of 344 cm and an estimated volume of 119.4 m³. While the tallest known, near Williamsburg, Virginia, is 44 m tall, and the stoutest known, on Cat Island, Louisiana, is 521 cm diameter.^[4] The Senator. ... Clock tower in Longwood Historic District Longwood is a city in Seminole County, Florida, USA. The population was 13,745 at the 2000 census. ... Location in the Commonwealth of Virginia. ... Diameter at breast height, or DBH, is a standard method of expressing the diameter of the trunk of a tree. ...

Taxonomy WOWEE

The closely related Taxodium ascendens (Pondcypress) is treated by some botanists as a distinct species,^[5] while others classify it as merely a variety of Baldcypress,^[2][4] as Taxodium distichum var. imbricatum (Nutt.) Croom. It differs in shorter leaves borne on erect shoots, and in ecology, being largely confined to low nutrient blackwater habitats. A few authors also treat Taxodium mucronatum as a variety of Baldcypress, as T. distichum var. mexicanum Gordon, thereby considering the genus as comprising only one species.^[6] Taxodium ascendens is also known as pond cypress. ... In botanical nomenclature, variety is a rank below that of species: As such, it gets a ternary name (a name in three parts). ... Blackwater rivers are rivers with waters colored like black tea to coffee. ... Binomial name Taxodium mucronatum Tenore Taxodium mucronatum, also known as Montezuma Cypress or Ahuehuete (in the Nahuatl language), is a species of Taxodium native to much of Mexico (south to the highlands of southern Mexico), and also southernmost Texas, USA (just entering the state in the lower Rio Grande valley). ...

Habitat

Range

Bald Cypress on the Texas side of Caddo Lake.

The native range extends from Delaware Bay south to Florida and west to Texas and southeastern Oklahoma-(Little Dixie region, Oklahoma), and also inland up the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers north to southern Illinois and Indiana. Ancient Baldcypress forests, with some trees more than 1,200 years old, once dominated swamps in the southeast US. The largest remaining old-growth stand of Baldcypress is at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, near Naples, Florida.^{[citation needed]} These trees are around 500 years of age and some exceed 40 m in height. Download high resolution version (1000x750, 612 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (1000x750, 612 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... For other uses, see Texas (disambiguation). ... Caddo Lake, viewed from a point near Uncertain Caddo Lake is a 25,400 acre (103 km²) lake and wetland located on the border between Texas and Louisiana, in northern Harrison County and southern Marion County in Texas and western Caddo Parish in Louisiana. ... Delaware Bay Delaware Bay is a large esturarial inlet of the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Delaware River along the coast of the United States. ... This article is about the U.S. State of Florida. ... Red counties show the core of East Texas; pink and red counties may or may not be included in East Texas, and thus their inclusion varies from source to source. ... For other uses, see Oklahoma (disambiguation). ... Little Dixie Little Dixie is the name given to the region in southeastern Oklahoma heavily settled by Southerners displaced by Reconstruction following the American Civil War. ... For the river in Canada, see Mississippi River (Ontario). ... View of Pittsburgh, the largest metropolitan area on the Ohio River, where the Allegheny River (left) and the Monongahela River (right) join at Point State Park to form the Ohio River Cincinnati, Ohio is a well known city along the Ohio River, historically known for its riverboats. ... Official language(s) English[1] Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Largest metro area Chicago Metropolitan Area Area  Ranked 25th  - Total 57,918 sq mi (140,998 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 390 miles (629 km)  - % water 4. ... For other uses, see Indiana (disambiguation). ... This article is about a community of trees. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is a National Audubon Society sanctuary located in southwest Florida, north of Naples, Florida and east of Bonita Springs. ... Location in Collier County and the state of Florida Coordinates: , Country State Counties Collier Settled 6 November 1886 Incorporated (town) 1925 Incorporated (city) 25 May 1949 Government  - Type Council-Manager  - Mayor Bill Barnett   - City Manager Robert E. Lee  Area [1]  - city  14. ... This article is about the U.S. State of Florida. ...

It is native to humid climates where precipitation ranges from about 760 mm (in Texas) to 1630 mm (along the Gulf Coast).

Although it grows best in warm climates, the natural northern limit of the species is not due to a lack of cold tolerance, but to specific reproductive requirements; further north, regeneration is prevented by ice damage to seedlings. Larger trees are able to tolerate much lower temperatures and lower humidities. This article is about water ice. ...

Soils and Topography

Most Baldcypress grow on flat ground on alluvial soils, usually at elevations of less than 50 m above sea level, although some stands may occur at elevations of 500 m in Texas. Alluvium (from the Latin, alluvius, from alluere, to wash against) is soil or sediments deposited by a river or other running water. ...

Baldcypress occurs mainly along riparian (riverside) wetlands normally subject to periodic flooding by silt-rich 'brownwater' rivers, unlike the related Taxodium ascendens, which occurs in silt-poor blackwater rivers and ponds. Baldcypress tolerates minor salinity, but does not grow in brackish or saline coastal waters. A riparian zone schematic from the Everglades. ... Taxodium ascendens is also known as pond cypress. ... Blackwater rivers are rivers with waters colored like black tea to coffee. ... Two people reflected in a fish pond A pond is typically a man made body of water smaller than a lake. ...

Ecology

A Baldcypress in the Atchafalaya Basin of Louisiana

The seeds remain viable for less than one year, and are dispersed in two ways. One is by water; the seeds float and move on water until flooding recedes or the cone is deposited on shore. The second is by wildlife; squirrels eat seeds but often drop some scales from the cones they harvest. Seeds do not germinate under water and rarely germinate on well drained soils; seedlings normally become established on soil that is continuously saturated, but not flooded, for one to three months. After germination, seedlings must grow quickly to escape floodwaters; they often reach a height of 20–75 cm (up to 100 cm in fertilized nursery conditions) in their first year. Seedlings die if inundated for more than about two to four weeks. Natural regeneration is therefore prevented on sites that are always flooded during the growing season. Although vigorous saplings and stump sprouts can produce viable seed, most specimens do not produce seed until they are about 30 years old. In good conditions, Baldcypress grows fairly fast when young, then more slowly with age. Trees have been measured to reach 3 m in five years, 21 m tall in 41 years, and 36 m in 96 years; height growth has largely ceased by the time the trees are 200 years old. Some individuals can live over 1,000 years. It may be difficult to determine the age of an old tree because of frequent missing or false rings of stemwood caused by variable and stressful growing environments.^[7] This article is about the animal. ... A nursery is a place where plants are propagated, usually for sale as a business, though some gardeners and farmers keep private nurseries. ... The growth rings of an unknown tree species, at Bristol Zoo, England. ...

Bald Cypress forest in winter, showing "knees" and (brown) high flood level. Lynches River, Johnsonville, South Carolina.

Baldcypress growing in swamps have a peculiarity of growth called cypress knees. These are woody projections sent above the ground or water that are part of the root system. Their function was once thought to be to provide oxygen to the roots, which grow in the low dissolved oxygen (DO) waters typical of a swamp (as in mangroves). However, there is little evidence for this; in fact, roots of swamp-dwelling specimens whose knees are removed do not decrease in oxygen content and the trees continue to thrive. Another more likely function is that of structural support and stabilization. Baldcypress growing on flood-prone sites tend to form buttressed bases, but trees grown on drier sites may lack this feature. Buttressed bases and a strong, intertwined root system allows them to resist very strong winds; even hurricanes rarely overturn them.^[7] Cypress trees, with knees Image taken by me, released under GFDL Pollinator 03:33, 10 Feb 2004 (UTC) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Cypress trees, with knees Image taken by me, released under GFDL Pollinator 03:33, 10 Feb 2004 (UTC) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Johnsonville is a city located in Florence County, South Carolina. ... Taxodium knees In the biology of tree, a cypress knee is a distinctive structure in a root of a cypress tree of any of various species. ... For other uses, see Root (disambiguation). ... This article is about the chemical element and its most stable form, or dioxygen. ... Above and below water view at the edge of the mangal. ... This article is about weather phenomena. ...

Many agents damage Baldcypress trees. The main lethal damaging agent is the fungus Stereum taxodi, which causes a brown pocket rot known as "pecky cypress". It attacks the heartwood of living trees, usually from the crown down to the roots. A few other fungi attack the sapwood and the heartwood of the tree, but they do not usually cause serious damage. Insects like the cypress flea beetle and the baldcypress leafroller (Archips goyerana) (closely related to the fruit tree leafroller) can seriously damage Baldcypress trees by destroying leaves, cones or the bark of tree. Coypu also clip and unroot young Baldcypress seedlings, sometimes killing a whole plantation in a short amount of time.^[7] For the fictional character, see Fungus the Bogeyman. ... Orders Subclass Apterygota Archaeognatha (bristletails) Thysanura (silverfish) Subclass Pterygota Infraclass Paleoptera (Probably paraphyletic) Ephemeroptera (mayflies) Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) Infraclass Neoptera Superorder Exopterygota Grylloblattodea (ice-crawlers) Mantophasmatodea (gladiators) Plecoptera (stoneflies) Embioptera (webspinners) Zoraptera (angel insects) Dermaptera (earwigs) Orthoptera (grasshoppers, etc) Phasmatodea (stick insects) Blattodea (cockroaches) Isoptera (termites) Mantodea (mantids) Psocoptera... Binomial name (Molina, 1782) The coypu or nutria (Myocastor coypus) is a large, herbivorous, semiaquatic rodent and the only member of the family Myocastoridae. ...

Cultivation and uses

It is a very popular ornamental tree, grown for its light, feathery foliage and orange-brown fall color. In cultivation it thrives on a wide range of soils including well-drained sites where it would not grow naturally due to the inability of the young seedlings to compete with other vegetation. Cultivation is successful far to the north of its native range, north to southern Canada. It is also commonly planted in Europe, Asia and elsewhere with temperate to subtropical climates. It does however require continental climates with hot summers for good growth; when planted in areas with cool summer oceanic climates, growth is healthy but very slow (some in northeastern England have only reached 4–5 m tall in about 50 years^[8]), and cones are not produced. An ornamental plant is a plant species or cultivar that is grown indoors, or in gardens and parks for its amenity value, or for beauty (in its end use), rather than commercial or other value. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Asia (disambiguation). ... Regions containing a continental climate exist in portions of Northern Hemisphere continents, and also at higher elevations in certain other parts of the world. ... World map showing the oceanic climate zones. ...

Baldcypress has been noted for its high merchantable yields. In virgin stands, yields from 112 to 196 m³/ha were common, and some stands might have exceeded 1000 m³/ha. Baldcypress swamps are some of the world's most productive ecosystems.

Baldcypress wood has long been valued for its water resistance. Still-usable prehistoric wood is often found in swamps in New Jersey and occasionally as far north as New England although it is more common in the southeast. The somewhat-mineralized wood is mined from some swamps in the southeast, and is highly prized for specialty uses such as wood carvings. Pecky cypress, caused by the fungus Stereum taxodii is used for decorative wall paneling. Panelling is a blanket term for wall coverings constructed from rigid or semirigid components. ...

The Baldcypress was designated the official state tree of Louisiana in 1963, and is considered by some to be a symbol of the southern swamps. This List of U.S. state trees includes official trees of the following states and U.S. possessions: See also Lists of U.S. state insignia National Grove of State Trees External link USDA list of state trees and flowers Categories: | | ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... For other uses, see 1963 (disambiguation). ...

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Taxodium distichum

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List and Red Data List), created in 1963, is the worlds most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species and can be found here. ... The World Conservation Union or International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation. ...

See also

• Battle Creek Cypress Swamp, Maryland

Gallery

			Knees of a Bald Cypress in Chester County, Pennsylvania Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2000x3008, 2843 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Taxodium distichum Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2000x2353, 1624 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Taxodium distichum Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2872x1868, 2028 KB) Source Own Picture Date Saturday, July 1, 2006 Author Photo by Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man) Permission You may NOT use this image on your own web site or anywhere else unless you release this image and any derivative... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1798x2679, 1700 KB) Source Own Picture Date Saturday, July 1, 2006 Author Photo by Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man) Permission You may NOT use this image on your own web site or anywhere else unless you release this image and any derivative... Chester County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. ...
Leaf closeup Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1848x2136, 1489 KB) Source Own Picture Date Saturday, July 1, 2006 Author Photo by Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man) Permission You may NOT use this image on your own web site or anywhere else unless you release this image and any derivative...	A large planted tree in Belgium, 2.73 m diameter.	Same tree, in winter.