Bald cypress
|
Taxodium distichum
|
Cupressaceae
|
Landscape Uses:
|
|
Accent or specimen tree in wet soils. |
Ecological Restoration Notes: |
|
|
Availability: |
|
Widely cultivated. Available in Naples at Everglades Native Designs. |
Description: |
|
Medium to large tree with an erect, straight trunk. Bark silvery to reddish, flaking in stips. Needles deciduous, thin, light green, almost always featherlike and held away from the twig. |
Height: |
|
Typically 30-100 feet in height in South Florida; to 118 feet in Florida. Taller than broad. |
Growth Rate: |
|
Moderate. |
Range: |
|
Eastern and central United States west to Texas and south to Miami-Dade County and the Monroe County mainland. For a digitized image of Elbert Little's Florida range map, visit the Exploring Florida website. This map also contains the range of T. ascendens. |
Habitats: |
|
Freshwater swamps. |
Soils: |
|
Wet to moist, poorly-drained to moderately well-drained organic soils. |
Nutritional Requirements: |
|
Moderate to high; grows best with some organic content and may languish in nutrient poor soils. |
Salt Water Tolerance: |
|
Low; does not tolerate flooding by salt or brackish water. |
Salt Wind Tolerance: |
|
Low; salt wind may burn the leaves. |
Drought Tolerance: |
|
Low; requires moist to wet soils and is intolerant of long periods of drought. |
Light Requirements: |
|
Full sun to light shade. |
Flower Color: |
|
Green turning brown. |
Flower Characteristics: |
|
Cone. |
Flowering Season: |
|
Spring. |
Fruit: |
|
Cone. |
Wildlife and Ecology: |
|
Provides some food and moderate amounts of cover for wildlife. |
Horticultural Notes: |
|
Can be grown from seed soaked in water for 24-48 hours. |
Comments: |
|
See a 2018 post on the Treasure Coast Natives blog on the galls created by the Cypress Twig Gall Midge on Bald Cypress. |
|
|
|
|