A deciduous southern conifer that thrives in swamps and bottomlands, raising "knees" from the water and shedding its feathery needles each autumn.
Where it grows
Bald cypress grows in standing water and seasonally flooded river bottoms across the southeastern United States, from Delaware around the coast to Texas and up the Mississippi system as far as southern Indiana. It is the iconic tree of Louisiana bayous and Florida cypress swamps.
How to recognise it
The soft, feathery needles are arranged in flat sprays and shed each autumn — hence “bald.” Trees standing in water grow distinctive “knees,” woody projections of the root system that may help anchor the tree or supply oxygen. The trunk has a deeply fluted, buttressed base and reddish-brown stringy bark.
Uses
The heartwood is highly resistant to decay and was historically the timber of choice for water tanks, shingles, dock pilings, and coffins across the American South. Demand for “pecky” cypress (lumber riddled with attractive decay pockets caused by a fungus) supports a niche reclamation industry.
Ecology
Cypress swamps store huge volumes of floodwater, filter sediment, and shelter alligators, prothonotary warblers, and the endangered Florida panther.