PINACEAE 



Baldgypress 



Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich. 



HABIT. A large and important tree, 100-120 feet high and 

 3-5 feet in diameter (max. 150 by 17 feet); young crown nar- 

 rowly pyramidal, becoming irregular and flattened with age; 

 bole tapered with fluted butt; peculiar conical structures known 

 as knees arise from roots on wetter sites. 



LEAVES. Spirally arranged; deciduous (lateral twigs falling, 

 with attached leaves; on lower branches V^-% inch long, linear, 

 appearing 2-ranked; on fertile branches about Vi inch long, 

 appressed, and nearly scalelike; yellow-green. 



FLOWERS. Monoecious; male cones in drooping panicles, 

 each composed of 6-8 stamens; female subglobose, of several 

 spirally arranged, peltate scales each bearing 2 erect ovules. 



FRUIT. Woody, subglobose, pendent cone; %-l inch in 

 diameter; brown; of several wrinkled, peltate scales; maturing 

 in one year and usually disintegrating at maturity. Seed: H 

 inch long, brown, irregularly 3-angled and 3-winged, with 2 

 seeds to each scale. 



TWIG. Terminal twigs bearing axillary buds and persistent; 

 lateral twigs deciduous with needles still attached. Winter 

 buds: small, subglobose, with several imbricated scales. 



BARK. Variable; thin and scaly to fibrous and IVi inches 

 thick; red-brown to ash-gray. 



WOOD. Important; variegated in color from light to dark 

 brown; moderately heavy, hard, and strong; very durable; 

 used for construction lumber, siding, caskets, shingles, etc. 



SILVICAL CHARACTERS. Intolerant; growth rather slow 

 on wet sites; attains age of 1,000-3,000 years; reproduces well 

 from seed and stump sprouts vigorously; shallow, wide-spread- 

 ing roots; surprisingly windfirm even on wet, unstable soils; 

 wood of old trees riddled with pecky rot. 



HABITAT. Typical in swamps; in pure stands or with water 



tupelo, sweetgum, and other bottomland hardwoods. 



* * * 

 A closely related, unimportant, smaller tree, Taxodium distichum 

 var. nutans (Ait.) Sweet, the pondcypress, differs from baldcypress 

 in having smaller scalelike to needle-shaped leaves which are 

 closely appressed. This is found in bogs and along ponds from 

 southern Virginia to Louisiana. Taxodium mucronatum Ten., 

 the Montezuma baldcypress of Mexico, which enters southern 

 Texas, differs from other species in having persistent needles. 



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