Bald Cypress 2” caliper

Bald Cypress

Mature Height: 50 to 120 feet tall

Mature Width: 20 to 30 feet wide

Although many conifers are evergreen, bald cypress trees are deciduous conifers that shed their needlelike leaves in the fall. In fact, they get the name “bald” cypress because they drop their leaves so early in the season. Their fall colors are tan, cinnamon, and fiery orange. The bark is brown or gray with a stringy texture. Young trees have pyramidal (pyramid-shaped) crowns, but these even off to a columnar shape in adulthood. Branches are often draped with clumps of Spanish moss. The feature that bald cypresses are really known for, though, is their “knees.” These aren’t like human knees, but a special kind of root. The technical term for the knee is pneumatophore, which means “air-bearing.”

Pneumatophores grow from horizontal roots just below the surface and protrude upward from the ground or water. Since bald cypresses often grow in swampy conditions, it’s thought that the pneumatophores function to transport air to drowned roots underground. They also might help to anchor the tree. Growing up to 120 feet (36.5 meters) tall with a trunk three to six feet (0.9 to 1.8 meters) in diameter, bald cypresses are frequently referred to as giants. (They can’t quite compare to their redwood relatives, though, which reach over 300 feet [91 meters] in height.)