Fig. 16.—Twig of the Cypress.
Other characters: The fruit is a small cone about one inch long, adhering to the tree throughout the winter.
Fig. 17.—The Bald Cypress.
Comparisons: The tree is apt to be confused with the American larch, also known as tamarack and hackmatack, but differs from it in having longer leaves, cones twice as large and more abundant and branches which are more pendulous.
The larch differs from the bald cypress in the broader form of its crown and the cluster-like arrangement of its leaves. The twigs of the bald cypress are flat and feathery. The larch and bald cypress have the common characteristics of both shedding their leaves in winter and preferring to grow in moist or swampy soils. The larch, especially the native species, forms the well-known tamarack swamps of the north. The bald cypress grows in a similar way in groups in the southern swamps.
Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum)
Distinguishing characters: The feathery character of the twigs, Fig. 16, and the spire-like form of the tree, [Fig. 17], which is taller and more slender than the larch, will distinguish this species from others.