BALD CYPRESS
Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich.
Growth Form: Large tree to over 100 feet tall; trunk diameter up to 8 feet; crown open and spreading to pyramidal; base of trunk often swollen; “knees” usually produced if tree is growing in water.
Bark: Pale reddish-brown, broken into numerous thin scales, becoming fibrous.
Twigs: Slender, reddish-brown; leaf scars absent.
Buds: Spherical, up to ⅛ inch in diameter, pale brown.
Leaves: Needles borne singly, pointed at the tip, up to ¾ inch long, yellow-green, falling away during the autumn.
Flowers: Staminate borne in branched clusters up to 5 inches long, purplish; pistillate few to several near the ends of the twigs, spherical.
Fruit: Cones nearly spherical, up to 1 inch in diameter, green to brown, wrinkled in appearance.
Wood: Soft, durable, light in weight, brown.