Taxodium

Taxodium is a genus of one to three species of extremely flood-tolerant conifers in the cypress family, Cupressaceae.

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 100-150 feet tall (30-45 m) 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 seeds; 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.


USES
The trees are especially prized for their wood, of which the heartwood is extremely rot and termite resistant, with the notable exception of the host-specific Pecky Rot fungus (Stereum taxodii), which causes some damaged trees to become hollow and thus useless for timber.


Species
Taxodium distichum (Baldcypress, Bald Cypress, or Swamp Cypress) is a species of conifer native to the southeastern United States. It is a large tree, reaching 25–40 m (rarely to 44 m) tall and trunk diameter of 2–3 m, rarely to 5 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, 1-2 cm long and 1-2 mm broad; 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 seed cones are green maturing gray-brown, globular, 2-3.5 cm in diameter. They have from 20–30 spirally arranged four-sided scales, each bearing one or two (rarely three) trianglular seeds. The number of seeds per cone ranges from 20–40. The cones disintegrate when mature to release the large seeds. The seeds are 5-10 mm long, the largest of any species in the cypress family, and are produced every year but with heavy crops every three to five years. The seedlings have 3–9 (most often 6) cotyledons. The largest individual specimen is "The Senator", near Longwood, Florida; it is 35 m tall, and with a trunk diameter of 344 cm and an estimated volume of 119.4 m³. While the tallest known, near Williamsburg, Virginia, is 44 m tall, and the stoutest known, on Cat Island, Louisiana, is 521 cm diameter.
It is a very popular ornamental tree, grown for its light, feathery foliage and orange-brown fall color. In cultivation it thrives on a wide range of soils including well-drained sites where it would not grow naturally due to the inability of the young seedlings to compete with other vegetation. Cultivation is successful far to the north of its native range, north to southern Canada. It is also commonly planted in Europe, Asia and elsewhere with temperate to subtropical climates. It does however require continental climates with hot summers for good growth; when planted in areas with cool summer oceanic climates, growth is healthy but very slow (some in northeastern England have only reached 4–5 m tall in about 50 years), and cones are not produced.

Taxodium ascendens, also known as Pond Cypress, is a species of Taxodium native to the southeastern United States, from coastal North Carolina to southeastern Louisiana.

Taxodium mucronatum, also known as Montezuma Cypress, Sabino, Ahuehuete (name derived from the Nahuatl language), is a species of Taxodium native to much of Mexico (south to the highlands of southern Mexico), and also southernmost Texas, USA (just entering the state in the lower Rio Grande valley). It occurs from 300 to 2500 m, in Mexico mainly in highlands at 1600 and 2300 m altitude. It is a large evergreen or semi-evergreen tree growing to 40 m tall and with a trunk of 1-3 m diameter (occasionally much more; see below). The leaves are spirally arranged but twisted at the base to lie in two horizontal ranks, 1-2 cm long and 1-2 mm broad. The cones are ovoid, 1.5-2.5 cm long and 1-2 cm broad.
Montezuma Cypress is primarily a riparian tree, growing along upland riversides, not in swamps or lakes. Unlike Bald Cypress and Pond Cypress, Montezuma Cypress does not produce cypress knees from the roots. Trees from the Mexican highlands achieve a notable stoutness. They are very drought-tolerant and fast-growing which has led to them being frequently cultivated there in parks and gardens. They favor climates that are rainy throughout the year or at least with high summer rainfall.

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