Bald cypress

Description:

Taxodium distichum is a species of conifer native to the southeastern United States. It is a large tree, reaching 25–40 m tall and a trunk diameter of 2–3 m. The bark is gray-brown to red-brown, shallowly vertically fissured, with a stringy texture. The leaves are borne on deciduous branchlets that are spirally arranged on the stem but twisted at the base to lie in two horizontal ranks; unlike most other species in the family Cupressaceae, it is deciduous, losing the leaves in the winter months, hence the name 'bald'. It is monoecious. Male and female strobili mature in about 12 months; they are produced from buds formed in the late fall, with pollination in early winter. The main trunks are surrounded by cypress knees. The oldest known specimen, located in Bladen County, North Carolina, is over 1,620 years old making this one of the oldest living plants in Eastern North America .

Habitat:

Joe Wheeler state park, Alabama.