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

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.

Bark Description

Ashy gray to reddish brown; fibrous or scaly.

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.