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Taxodium is a genus of one to three species (depending on taxonomic opinion) of conifers in the cypress family, Cupressaceae, one of several genera in the family commonly known as cypresses. Within the family, Taxodium is most closely related to Chinese Swamp Cypress (Glyptostrobus pensilis) and Sugi (Cryptomeria japonica).

Species of Taxodium occur in the southern part of the North American continent and are deciduous in the north and semi-evergreen to evergreen in the south. They are large trees, reaching 30-45 m tall and 2-3 m (exceptionally 11 m) trunk diameter. The needle-like leaves, 0.5-2 cm long, are borne spirally on the shoots, twisted at the base so as to appear in two flat rows on either side of the shoot. The cones are globose, 2-3.5 cm diameter, with 10-25 scales, each scale with 1-2 seedThis writeup is about biological seeds; for the Buddhist metaphor, see bija. A seed is the ripened ovule of gymnosperm or angiosperm plants. The importance of the seed relative to more primitive forms of reproduction and dispersal is attested to by the sus; they are mature in 7-9 months after pollination, when they disintegrate to release the seeds. The male (pollen) cones are produced in pendulous racemes, and shed their pollen in early spring.

1 Species

The three taxaA taxon (plural taxa is an element of a taxonomy, e. in the scientific classification in biology. Taxa form a hierarchical scheme, each being broken down into subtaxa. In traditional Linnaean taxonomy, taxa are ranked as follows, with some of the less wid of Taxodium are listed here as distinct species, though some botanists treat them in just one or two species, with the others considered as varieties of the first described. The three are distinct in ecologyEcology is the branch of science that studies the distribution and abundance of living organisms, and the interactions between organisms and their environment. The environment of an organism includes both its physical habitat, which can be described as th, growing in different environments, but hybridise where they meet.

1.1 Bald Cypress

Bald Cypress forest in winter, showing "knees" and (brown) high flood level. Lynches River, Johnsonville, South CarolinaJohnsonville is a city located in Florence County, South Carolina. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 1,418. Geography Johnsonville is located at 33°49'4" North, 79°26'54" West (33. 817802, -79. According to the United States Census The most familiar species is the Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum), also known as Southern Cypress or Swamp Cypress, native to much of the southeastern United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in, from DelawareDelaware is a state of the United States. It is known as the "First State" because it was the first of the 13 colonies to ratify the United States Constitution. Ratification occurred on December 7, 1787. History Europeans first settled in a Dutch trading to TexasTexas joined the United States of America as its 28th member state in 1845. It has the postal abbreviation TX . The state name derives from a word in a Caddoan language of the Hasinai, tejas meaning friends or allies Spanish explorers mistakenly applied t and inland up the Mississippi River to southern Indiana. The trees are called 'bald' because, unlike most other cypresses, they lose their leaves during the winter months.

Ancient Bald Cypress forests, with some trees over 1200 years old, once dominated swamps in the southeast US. The largest remaining stand of Bald Cypress is at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, near Naples, Florida. These trees are around 500 years of age and some now exceed 40m (130 ft) in height. The Bald cypress occurs mainly along riparian (riverside) wetlands subject to periodic flooding by silt-rich 'brownwater' rivers.

Bald Cypresses growing in swamps have a peculiarity of growth called cypress knees. These are woody projections sent above the water from the roots. Their function is thought to be to provide oxygen to the roots that grow in the low dissolved oxygen (DO) waters typical of a swamp (see also mangroves, which have similar adaptations).

The Bald Cypress was designated the official state tree of Louisiana in 1963.