31 Bald Cypress Tree Facts You Definitely Did Not Know

Cypress trees are also known as taxodium distichum; they are tall deciduous conifer trees.

The term cypress was first mentioned in Greek as 'kuparissos.' It then traveled to Latin as 'cypressus' and finally to French as 'cipres.'

Bald cypress trees can easily be identified by their needle-like leaves. Conifers are woody plants further divided into evergreen and deciduous trees. This classification tells us if they shed their flattened needle-like leaves during fall or keep them. Most conifers belong to the former group, but the bald cypresses are deciduous conifers and belong to the latter.

Cypress bald trees vegetate in excessively wet conditions. The bald cypress usually grows in swampy soils, riverbanks, and wet areas. The native range extends from southeastern New Jersey to Florida, west to east Texas, southeastern Oklahoma, and covers the inland Mississippi River. In 1963 the state of Louisiana named bald cypress as the official state tree.

Bald cypresses are also called red cypress, gulf cypress, white cypress, swamp cypress, and tidewater red cypress.

Facts About Bald Cypress Trees

Bald cypress trees comprise an essential part of our ecosystem, and they love swampy areas. Cypress trees have their wetland and marshland communities; many examples can be found in the southern swamps of the southeastern United States of America.

• The bald cypresses are tall, sturdy, and slowly growing trees.
• They can grow up to a towering height of up to 120 ft (36.5 m) and have a trunk diameter of 36-72 in (91-182 cm).
• The young trees have pyramidal symmetry, and as they mature, they develop a wide-spreading head.
• Older cypress trees have a flattened top and are hollow.
• They are called bald for a reason, as they drop their leaves when the seasons change, but mostly during the fall.
• Their leaves are of reddish-orange hue, and their bark looks ash gray or reddish-brown in color with a fibrous, stringy texture.
• One of the most eccentric features of the bald cypress trees is how they habitually produce knees - they grow from their roots.
• The cone-like structures are green in earlier stages and turn brown when they mature.
• The texture of their bark has a distinct interwoven pattern, shallow vertical ridges with lengthy crinkles.
• Bald cypress trees have sharp leaves that are 0.5-0.75 in (1.3-1.9 cm) long; they are simply slender with smooth margins.
• Bald cypress has foliage that changes according to their age.
• Young trees start with paler green leaf color, and as they mature, they turn to a shade of dark green.
• During the autumn season, their leaves turn copper-red or yellow before falling. Every spring brings new leaves.
• The bald cypress trees are very fond of sunlight; some take full sunlight and others partial.
• Bald cypress is ruggedly tough and can adapt to different varieties of soils, such as dry soils, wet swamps soil, or alkaline soils.
• One of the lesser-known facts is that the bald cypress tree is monoecious (having both male and female reproductive systems).

Uses Of Bald Cypress Trees

Bald cypress tree has ecological and social significance, and their native habitat extends from the Atlantic Coast from southern Delaware to Florida and then west through the Gulf Coast to Texas. Bald cypresses quite famously dwell in the forests and swamps of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia.

• The species of the bald cypress tree provide stabilization to the structural integrity of their area.
• They have significant buttressed protrusions growing from their roots and extending further above the ground.
• Their interwoven root systems are very strong and thus help in preventing hurricanes, strong winds, and gale.
• These buttresses are only formed in flood-prone areas or in areas with excessive water (like swamps).
• The bald cypress plays a vital role in keeping the soil intact and even stopping erosion on river banks by absorbing the excess water.
• They also provide wood products such as saw timber (as they are rot-resistant) and landscape mulch.
• The timber is used for the multi-purpose building of fence posts, planking in boats, doors, blinds, flooring, river pilings, garden boxes, cabinets, and caskets. 
• The organic cypress mulch is widely used in gardening and landscaping, as it helps the soil to retain the moisture keeping it cool, and acts as an insulator during winter.
• Cypress forested swamps are a natural habitat of multiple wildlife species.
• The top head of the bald cypress is a nesting home for large birds such as raptors,
• The wet swamps are an ideal breeding ground for amphibians, wood ducks, wild turkeys, water birds, and squirrels.
• The root system of the bald cypress covers a wide area which helps in trapping sediments and filtering the river.

Lifespan Of Bald Cypress Trees

Bald cypress trees grow slowly and can live up to 6oo hundred years; some species can even live longer. Let's discover the ages of these dendritic wonders!

• In the United States, North Carolina, a 2,624 years old bald cypress tree was discovered a few years back.
• Due to the protection that is given by the US Forest Service, the tree is still living and intact.
• These ancient treasures can grow taller for approximately 200 years, achieving a towering height of even 120 ft (36.5 m) and above.
• One of the detrimental issues to their growth is fungus attack.
• Williamsburg, Virginia, has the tallest known cypress tree and is about 48.23 yds (44.11 m) tall.
• In the Real County near Leakey, Texas, the stoutest known cypress tree can be found with a circumference of 475 in (12 m).
• Even though bald cypresses live very long, they have a growth rate of moderate to slow.
• To reach an adult height, bald cypress can take up to 15-25 years.
• Bald cypress needs abundant sunlight and well-drained soils.
• The growth of their height pauses when they are around 200 years old.
• Most saplings of the bald cypress tree produce seeds when they reach the age of 30.
• Montezuma cypress is another member of the taxodium family; native to Mexico and Guatemala, they are known for the colossal size of their trunks.

Habitat Of Bald Cypress Trees

As we discussed above, the bald cypress loves to dwell in well-drained soil and sunlight, but did you know that they are also able to grow in saltwater moderately?

• The bald cypress naturally prefers swamps and waterlogged areas.
• They happily compromise with different soil types, whether it is salty, dry, sand, or clay (heavy), and that makes them so versatile.
• You can easily identify the bald cypress as they are a common sight of the southern portion of the United States.
• They have widespread communities such as forested wetlands, isolated swamps, and riparian areas (vegetation growing on borders of rivers, streams, lakes, and lagoons).
• Forests of bald cypress have also been found in the southeastern United States.
• They are much older trees; some of them are more than 1,500 years old.
• The bald cypress can survive in soils that are acidic, alkaline, and salty but cannot grow properly if the water contains more than 0.89 % salt.
• An extensive range of old-growth forest of cypresses is found at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, near Naples, Florida, and in the exotic Three Sisters Tract along eastern North Carolina's Black River.
• Another marvelous member of the cypress comes from the redwood family.
• The native habitat of dawn redwood is in Chongqing, Hubei, and Hunan in south-central China.
• In the United States, they can be found on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada range of California.
• The native habitat of the coast redwood is in the northern California coastal forest ecoregion, Northern California coast, and several miles into Oregon.
• The bald cypresses are an invaluable source as they help in controlling floods, groundwater recharge and act as a natural habitat for wildlife.
• By following botanical guides and best practices, you can even plant one of your own!