Description
Taxodium –
There are 1 to 3 upright, conical, monoecious, deciduous in the North or semi evergreen in the South, coniferous trees within the Cupressaceae family, in this genus. They are found naturally occurring in swampy forest, boggy areas, or by river margins or in water in Southeastern USA to Guatemala. They have fissured peeling bark on buttresses trunks. The shoots are of 2 types: deciduous (without buds), which fall in autumn, and persistent ((with buds), from which only the leaves fall. The narrowly lance shaped or linear leaves are arranged alternately, radially or in 2 ranks Like that of yews (taxus). Male cones are tiny and occur in groups, the female cones are globular and 1″ in diameter are scattered and both mature in 7-9 months. They are late to come into leaves and take on attractive coppery brown autumn color for which they are values. They can be grown as specimen trees, they are especially suited to very wet or boggy sites, where they produce aerial roots at water level. Wood is terminate resistant.
Grow in any moist to wet, preferably acidic soil even clay or sandy soils in full or partial shade. They are flood tolerate.
Prone to leaf spot, bark beetle and wood rot.
T. distichum ‘Nutans’ – Bald Cypress – Swamp Cypress – This fast growing conical tree, grows to 70-130′ feet tall and 20-30′ feet wide. It often becomes columnar and often ragged with age. It bears pale brown, shallowly fissured fibrous red bark with knobbly ‘knee’s’. On deciduous shoots , leaves are 3/4″ long, alternate (almost opposite), 2 ranked, narrowly lance shaped, and bright green, held erect, which age becomes pendent with age, turning rusty-red in autumn then golden brown before falling.. On persistent shoots, leaves are small and scale like. Spherical green female cones, 1 1/4″ across, ripen to brown in autumn, pendent male cones expand in late winter.
Zones 5-11
