Baldcypress

Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum)

Full sun, wet to medium moisture, tolerates prolonged flooding, brackish conditions, and heavy clay; also adapts to well-drained upland sites once established; pH 4.0–7.5.

50–70 feet tall by 20–30 feet wide; monoecious; male cones in pendulous panicles 8–13 cm long, female cones about 2.5 cm round, ripening in fall. Deciduous conifer — flat, alternate needles (versus opposite in Metasequoia) turn russet-orange to tawny-brown before dropping in November. Growth rate medium, 30–45 cm per year; long-lived to 600+ years.

Native region: West Tennessee lowlands and scattered Middle Tennessee river systems; native to the Cumberland and Duck River floodplains in Maury and adjacent counties.

Pneumatophores — the knobby woody structures (knees) that emerge from soil and water around the trunk — are the most distinctive identification character and develop in proportion to water depth at the root zone. On upland sites without standing water, knee production is minimal or absent. Taxodium distichum grows on dry upland soils surprisingly well once established — a common landscaping misconception is that it requires standing water. Alternate leaf arrangement on the branchlets separates it definitively from Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides), which has opposite leaves. UT Extension shade tree publications document few serious pest problems in Tennessee; the species is notably resistant to most canker and foliar diseases that trouble other conifers in the region's humid climate. Spider mites may affect drought-stressed specimens during Middle Tennessee's dry August periods. Provides significant wildlife structure: osprey, great blue heron, and wood ducks nest in mature snags.