North Carolina Wildflowers, Shrubs, and Trees

by Jeffrey S. Pippen | Back to Jeff's Plant Page | Jeff's Nature Pages


Cupressaceae > Taxodium (bald-cypress)

Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum)
Planted in a beaver pond in Durham, NC
13 Sep 2009

Native to wet habitats in the coastal plain, Baldcypress is commonly planted and grows very in wet or dry soils in the NC piedmont.

Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum)
Planted in a beaver pond in Durham, NC
13 Sep 2009

Baldcypress trees often develop a distinctive flat-topped shape.

Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum)
Planted in a beaver pond in Durham, NC
16 Aug 2009

Baldcypress is a deciduous conifer with branchlets turning brown and being shed each fall.

Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum)
Tyrrell Co., NC
2 Oct 2005

Ripening cones.

Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum)
Bladen C., NC
27 June 2010

Ripening cones.

Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum)
Planted in a beaver pond in Durham, NC
16 Aug 2009

Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum)
Planted in a beaver pond in Durham, NC
16 Aug 2009

In wet soils, the base of the tree trunk becomes buttressed.

Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum)
Planted in a beaver pond in Durham, NC
16 Aug 2009

"Cypress knees" usually develop in wet habitats. While there are many theories, scientists are unsure of the exact reason these knees form.

Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) growing with pine trees
McLean Savannah in Pender Co, NC
13 Sep 2009
Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum)
Planted landscape specimen in Durham Co, NC
2 Nov 2012

Shape of medium-sized open-grown tree in fall color.


Annotated habitat and distribution information listed above is from Radford, Ahles, & Bell. 1968. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. UNC Press; and from personal observations and discussions with Will Cook, Harry LeGrand, and Bob Wilbur. Common names from personal experience and supplemented by the following resources USDA plants website, Flora of the Carolinas, Virginia, and Georgia, and NatureServe.


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Created on ... Aug 19, 2009 | jeffpippen9@gmail.com