Jan–MarApr–JunJul–SepOct–Dec
Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
← Explore Plants
Plant · P-1004
Bald Cypress
Taxodium distichum
Bald cypress is a deciduous conifer of southern swamps and river bottoms, one of the very few conifers that drops its needles every autumn after they turn a deep terra cotta. It thrives standing in water that would kill most trees, and its buttressed trunk and knobby root "knees" anchor it firmly in saturated, flooding ground while filtering sediment and pollutants out of the water. It is exceptionally long-lived, with individuals over a thousand years old still standing, and its rot-resistant heartwood has gone into construction, boat planking and shingles for generations - though a planted tree takes about two centuries to grow wood that decay-resistant. Seedlings need a wet-then-drying cycle to germinate at all, so on ground that never floods, new trees have to be planted rather than left to seed themselves.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun · Partial Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 4–9
- Soil
- Sand · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Dry · Moist · Wet
Vertical layer
Canopy- Soil pH
- 5–6
- Plant type
- Deciduous Tree
- Mature height
- 50–70 ft
- Mature spread
- 20–30 ft
- Plant spacing
- 24–60 ft
- Root type
- Tap
- Spread pattern
- Seed
Keep exploring
Similar plants
Discover more plants with shared forest layers or growing conditions.
Alligator Juniper
Juniperus deppeana
Alligator juniper is a slow-growing, long-lived evergreen conifer named for its thick, deeply furrowed, plated bark that resembles reptile…
Canopy · USDA 6–9
American Beech
Fagus grandifolia
American Beech is a slow, long-lived shade tree that can establish and eventually fruit even under an existing forest canopy, unlike almost…
Canopy · USDA 3–9
American Chestnut
Castanea dentata
American chestnut once carried the sweetest nut of any chestnut species and covered more than 200 million acres of eastern forest, but an…
Canopy · USDA 5–8
American Elm
Ulmus americana
American Elm is a native stream-bank tree that grows into a 60 to 80 foot vase-shaped shade crown and, once mature, becomes one of the…
Canopy · USDA 3–9
American Holly
Ilex opaca
American holly is a slow-growing evergreen understory tree with spiny, leathery leaves and bright red winter berries that at least eighteen…
Canopy · USDA 5–9
American Persimmon
Diospyros virginiana
American persimmon fruit is bitterly astringent until it goes fully soft-ripe, usually only after the first hard frost, at which point it…
Canopy · USDA 4–9
The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
- Locked ecological function
- Byproduct
- Locked ecological function
Behind the record
- Locked research reference
- Locked research reference
- Locked research reference