Taxodium distichum, or bald cypress, is a cone-shaped conifer that can grow between 50 and 70 feet tall and sometimes up to 125 feet. It appears to be an evergreen tree in the summertime, but it is deciduous and sheds its leaves in the fall, which is how it got its "bald" moniker. This tree is typically found in southern swamps, bayous, and rivers, mainly in coastal areas from Maryland to Texas and in the lower Mississippi River valley, extending as far north as the southeastern corner of Missouri. In the deep South, it grows directly in swampy water, sometimes in large groups, and its branches are often covered in Spanish moss.
This tree thrives in drier, upland soils and develops unique, knobby root growths that protrude above the water surface when it's in water. It has soft, feathery, yellowish-green foliage that turns into an attractive orange or cinnamon-brown color in the 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 resistant to rot, and has been utilized for various purposes like making barrels, railroad ties, and shingles. Its closest relative is the deciduous dawn redwood (Metasequoia), the state tree of Louisiana.
