Taxodium distichum, or bald cypress, is a pyramid-shaped conifer that grows up to 50-70 feet tall and sometimes up to 125 feet. In the summer, it looks like an evergreen tree, but it is deciduous and loses its leaves in the autumn ("bald," as the common name suggests). Its natural habitat is in the southern swamps, bayous, and rivers, primarily in coastal areas from Maryland to Texas and in the lower Mississippi River valley, as far north as the southeast corner of Missouri. In the deep South, it is a common sight growing directly in swampy water, often in large strands, and its branches are heavily draped with Spanish moss.
This tree thrives in drier, upland soils and develops distinctive, knobby root growths that protrude above the water surface when grown in water. It has soft, feathery, yellowish-green foliage that turns an attractive orange/cinnamon-brown in fall. The tree produces rounded, wrinkled, purplish-green cones that mature to brown and are about 1 inch in diameter. The wood of this tree is heavy, straight-grained, and rot-resistant and has been used for various purposes, such as barrels, railroad ties, and shingles. Its closest relative is the dawn redwood (Metasequoia), deciduous, and Louisiana's state tree.
