Tree of the Week: Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum)

We are nearing the winter solstice. Most of the deciduous trees in northwest Louisiana have dropped their leaves. Those few deciduous trees retaining their leaves stand-out in the otherwise grey-green landscape. Our tree of the week is one such specimen. We have a bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) in the arboretum that is showing off its red-orange leaves this week, and making a mess of the long white wooden bridge. All photos below are of a single specimen, purchased from Gorum's Nursery in 1985.

The bald cypress is tall and orange. It's planted in a low spot, surrounded by vegetation. In this photo, an old yaupon holly bush obscures the lower portion of the bald cypress.

From another angle, yellow-green fall foliage of the arrow wood viburnum obscures the trunk of the bald cypress.

The long white wooden bridge (pictured left) runs on the south-side of the bald cypress.

The bald cypress has dropped a lot of leaves!

On the bridge, the red-orange bald cypress leaves are mixed in with water oak leaves.

Standing on the bridge, we can get a clear look at the handsome, gently tapering trunk of the bald cypress.

The base of the trunk is buttressed with pronounced ridges.

Cypress knees protrude from the ground, seemingly at random, in the vicinity of the tree. Sometimes they appear solo.

Sometimes we find a collection of knees.

Sometimes the knees are extra knobby. Can we treat them as clouds and imagine if they resemble something?

Looking up, we see straight limbs jutting out from a straight trunk with an orange backdrop.

Zooming in we see an orange mat of color.

Cypress leaves are little needles attached to a twig. This twig measures more than 2.5 inches long, and it holds approximately 50 leaves.

Twig length varies. This twig measures more than 4 inches long.

Needle length varies, too.