The basics

Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) is a deciduous conifer of the southeast that grows best in full sun on sites with saturated soils or in soils subject to frequent flooding. It has bright green, fern-like needles with shaggy cinnamon colored bark and a fluted tree base. In the fall the foliage turns a bright copper color before the leaves drop. Bald cypress is the dominant tree in swampy inter-coastal habitats of the s.e. US. In very wet habitats it forms characteristic “knees,” which are roots that come above the soil surface to help anchor the tree. There are two recognized bald cypress varieties. Variety 'distichum' is commonly called cypress, swamp-cypress, red-cypress, gulf-cypress, or other names. It readily grows knees and is found in estuaries and river bottomlands from the east coast westward to Texas and north to Illinois. Variety ’nutans,’ is commonly referred to as pond cypress or black-cypress and grows in shallow ponds and wet areas westward to southeast Louisiana.