4. Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden

Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum)

Who Are You Calling Bald?

The bald cypress may look like an evergreen tree, but it is actually deciduous. Each autumn, its needlelike green leaves turn reddish brown and then drop off. Bald cypresses grow swiftly and can reach 130 feet in height. Also known as swamp cypresses, they are found in wetlands, river basins, and swampy forests. They also live in bayous—which explains why Louisiana made the bald cypress its state tree.

The spiky protuberances at the base of our bald cypress are called knees, or pneumatophores. They help to stabilize the tree when it is growing on wet, mucky terrain. (Photo by Romi Ige)

Trees That Wear Skirts

The bald cypresses at BBG have straight trunks, but when these trees grow in wet conditions or in water, their trunks take on a bulging, flared, skirtlike shape. This buttressed trunk stabilizes the tree and allows it to stand firm on muddy, mucky, or flooded ground. This is one adaptation that bald cypresses have developed to survive in watery terrain. Another is the tree's unique "knees." The knees of the bald cypress are knobby projections that grow upward from the roots. Originally thought by botanists to be a place for oxygen to enter the sunken roots, the knees are now considered a further stabilization mechanism created by the plant.

Notable Neighbors:

• 4A. American beech (Fagus grandifolia)
• 4B. Eastern white pine grove (Pinus strobus)
• 4C. China fir
  (Cunninghamia lanceolata 'Glauca')
• 4D. Stinking cedar (Torreya taxifolia)
• 4E. Katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum)

The trunk of this Alabama bald cypress is buttressed to help it survive in its wet habitat. (Photo by Nelson Brooke)