Pond cypress
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Taxodium ascendens
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Cupressaceae
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Landscape Uses:
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Accent or specimen tree in wet soils. |
Ecological Restoration Notes: |
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Availability: |
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Widely cultivated. Available at Indian Trails Native Nursery in Lake Worth (561-641-9488). |
Description: |
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Small to large tree with an erect, straight trunk. Bark gray to brown, flaking in strips. Needles deciduous, thin, light green, almost always held flat against the twig. |
Height: |
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Typically 10-80 feet in height in South Florida; to 115 feet in Florida. Usually taller than broad. |
Growth Rate: |
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Moderate. |
Range: |
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Eastern and southeastern United States west to Texas and south to Miami-Dade County and the Monroe County mainland. |
Habitats: |
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Freshwater swamps and marl prairies. |
Soils: |
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Wet to moist, poorly-drained to moderately well-drained calcareous, sandy or organic soils, with or without humus. |
Nutritional Requirements: |
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Moderate to high; grows best with some organic content and may languish in nutrient poor soils. |
Salt Water Tolerance: |
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Low; does not tolerate flooding by salt or brackish water. |
Salt Wind Tolerance: |
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Low; salt wind may burn the leaves. |
Drought Tolerance: |
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Low; requires moist to wet soils and is intolerant of long periods of drought. |
Light Requirements: |
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Full sun. |
Flower Color: |
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Green turning brown. |
Flower Characteristics: |
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Cone. |
Flowering Season: |
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Spring. |
Fruit: |
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Cone. |
Wildlife and Ecology: |
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Provides some food and moderate amounts of cover for wildlife. |
Horticultural Notes: |
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Can be grown from seed soaked in water for 24-48 hours. |
Comments: |
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Depending on nutrients and water availability, this can be a small tree or tree-like shrub or it can be a large tree. See a 2018 post on the Treasure Coast Natives blog on the galls created by the Cypress Twig Gall Midge on Pond Cypress. |
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