Post 47
Baldcypress
Taxodium distichum

Location

N39º28.879'
W088º24.795'

Date Planted

April 8, 2004

Special Note:
The Baldcypress is a deciduous conifer and will lose its needles every year. 

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This tree was donated by funds from the Lumpkin Foundation Grant.

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Tree located at
Hawthorne Elementary School
2405 Champaign Avenue
Mattoon, Illinois

Tree Description

With a swollen, fluted, and tapered trunk, it often has conical "knees" that project up out of the water from submerged roots.  They reach from 80 to 120 feet in height with a diameter of 3 to 5 feet, sometimes wider.

Habitat

Thrives in swampland, but will grow in drier situations. 

Range

S. Delaware along coast to S. Florida; Mississippi Valley from SW. Indiana to Louisiana and part of S. Texas; remains hardy when planted as far north as New England.

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Leaf Description

Decidious; yellow-green linear needles, light green above, paler below, 0.5 to 0.8 inch long, single, flat, in crowded, featherlike rows; turning brown and shedding in fall.

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Bark Description

Ashy gray to reddish brown; fibrous or scaly.

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Fruit Description

Gray, nearly rounded with a wrinkled surface, 0.8 to 1 inch in diameter; single or in pairs at end of twig, shedding scales in fall.  Pollen cones tiny, in long, narrow clusters to 4 inches. 
     Seeds:  2 winged, horny, light brown seeds under each rhomboid scale.