| Information | Bald Cypress | Pond Cypress |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific name | Taxodium distichum | Taxodium distichum var. imbricarium (prev. Taxodium ascendes) |
| Common name | Bald Cypress; Baldcypress; Cypress; Swamp Cypress | Pond Cypress |
Top photo by J. Rone at Carvers Creek State Park
About These Trees
Cypress trees are a type of tree known as a deciduous conifer. They share characteristics of both deciduous and coniferous trees. The cypress trees at Carvers Creek have needle-like leaves, which they drop every autumn. They also have small, round cones that bear seeds.
Some trees in the cypress family as pretty easy to identify, like the eastern red cedar. But there are two types of cypress tree that are native to the southeast and especially tricky to tell apart. They are the bald cypress and pond cypress. Some people think that we have bald cypress at the park, and other people say they are pond cypress trees. Maybe you can help us figure out which one we have. Maybe it's both!
The first step to figure out which type of cypress tree we have here is to visit the park! Take a short half-mile hike down the Rockefeller Loop Trail to the millpond and start looking at some of the cypress trees around the edge of the pond. You can tell the cypress tree by its scaly brown or gray bark that naturally peels off into long strips, and the distinctive cone-shaped base. Once you have found some cypress trees, your next step is to examine the leaves and branches. Try not to break any! The two types of cypress trees have slightly different leaves, and that's your best way to tell them apart.
The bald cypress has flat needles, and they grow in the same plane. What does that mean? Imagine taking a small green twig of bald cypress and putting it on a sheet of paper. Growing in the same plane means all the needles would touch the paper at the same time. The pond cypress leaves are more needle-shaped (like the shaft of an awl or a screwdriver), in a spiral arrangement that stays close to the stem.
After you have examined the cypress leaves, you can take a look at a peculiar feature of the cypress tree called the "knees." Cypress knees are a part of the cypress tree root system, and you can often find them growing a few feet away from the trunk of the tree, in water or on land. The tree may use them to help it breathe properly in the wet environment it likes to grow in, or for other functions like storing food for the tree, or providing additional support for the tree as it gets older. Although it can be hard to tell them apart, they can help you solve the mystery of the cypress trees! Bald cypress trees (remember, they have flatter needles on their branches) have an almost pointy knee. Pond cypress trees have rounder, flatter knee tops.
That's a lot of stuff to remember! To make things easier, rangers use a helpful tool called a dichotomous key to help them identify plants and animals. You can make one for cypress trees! See the PDF version of the newsletter to see what it would look like for a cypress tree.
Vocabulary
Deciduous Tree: A tree that sheds its leaves every year, usually in the fall
Coniferous Tree: A tree that has cones with seeds and typically has needle-like leaves
Deciduous Conifer: A tree that forms cones and needles, but they also change colors in the fall and lose their needles every year.
Dichotomous Key: A tool to help identify different plants and animals by a simple yes-or-no test of observable characteristics.
Additional Links
Carvers Creek State Park home page