From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Taxodium distichum(bald cypress)is ain the family. It is native to the southeastern United States. Hardy and tough, this tree adapts to a wide range of soil types, whether wet, dry, or swampy. It is noted for the russet-red fall color of its lacy needles.
This plant has some cultivated varietiesand is often used in groupings in public spaces. Common names include bald cypress, baldcypress, swamp cypress, white cypress, tidewater red cypress, gulf cypress and red cypress.
Taxodium distichumis a large, slow-growing, and long-lived. It typically grows to heights of 35鈥�120 feet (10鈥�40m) and has aof 3鈥�6 feet (0.9鈥�1.8m).
The main trunk is often surrounded by. Theis grayish brown to reddish brown, thin, and fibrous with a stringy texture; it has a vertically, interwoven pattern of shallow ridges and narrow furrows.
The needle-likeare1鈦�2to3鈦�4inch (1.3 to 1.9cm) long and are simple, alternate, green and linear, with entire margins. In autumn, the leaves turn yellow or copper red.The bald cypress drops its needles each winter and then grows a new set in spring.
This species is, with male and female flowers on a single plant forming on slender, tassel-like structures near the edge of branchlets. The tree flowers in April and the seeds ripen in October.The male and femaleare produced from buds formed in late autumn, with pollination in early winter, and mature in about 12 months. Maleemerge onthat are 4鈥�5 inches (10鈥�13cm) inches long. Female cones are round,and green while young. They then turn hard and then brown as the tree matures. They are globular and 2.0鈥�3.5cm (3鈦�4鈥�13鈦�8in) in diameter. They have from 20 to 30 spirally arranged, four-sided scales, each bearing one, two, or rarely three triangular. Each cone contains 20 to 40 large seeds. The cones disintegrate at maturity to release the seeds. The seeds are 5鈥�10mm (3鈦�16鈥�13鈦�32in) long, the largest of any species of Cupressaceae, and are produced every year, with heavy crops every 3鈥�5 years. The seedlings have three to nine, but usually six,each.
The bald cypress grows in full sunlight to partial shade. This species grows best in wet or well-drained soil but can tolerate dry soil. It is moderately able to grow inof salt water. The cones are often consumed by wildlife.
This tree is suitable for cultivation in light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. It does well in acid, neutral and alkaline soils and can grow in very alkaline and saline soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist or wet soil and can grow in water. It can tolerate atmospheric pollution.
The tallest known specimen, near, is 44.11m (145ft) tall, and the stoutest known, in thenear, has aof 475in (39ft).The oldest known living specimen, found along thein, is at least 2,624 years old, rendering it the oldest living trees in eastern.
The native range extends from southeasternsouth toand west to Eastand southeastern, and also inland up the. Ancient bald cypress, with some trees more than 1,700 years old, once dominatedin the Southeast. The range had been believed to extended north only as far as, but researchers have now found a natural forest on thePeninsula in southern New Jersey. The species can also be found growing outside its natural native range.The largest remainingstands are at, near, Florida, and in the Three Sisters tract along eastern North Carolina's.[]The Corkscrew trees are around 500 years of age, and some exceed 40 m in height. The Black River trees were cored byDavid Stahle from the. He found that some began growing as early as 364 AD.
This species is native to humid climates where annual precipitation ranges from about 760mm or 30 inches in Texas to 1,630mm or 64 inches 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 bydamage to seedlings. Larger trees are able to tolerate much lower temperatures and lower humidity.
In 2012discovered an underwater cypress forest several miles off the coast of, in 60 feet of water. The forest contains trees that could not be dated with radiocarbon methods, indicating that they are more than 50,000 years old and thus most likely lived in the early glacial interval of the last ice age. The cypress forest is well preserved, and when samples are cut they still smell like fresh cypress. A team, which has not yet published its results in a peer-reviewed journal, is studying the site. One possibility is that hurricane Katrina exposed the grove of bald cypress, which had been protected under ocean floor sediments.
