Baldcypress, Common | Arboretum | SIU

This tree is one of the 150 trees initially included in the arboretum to coincide with the campus's 150th anniversary celebration.

Scientific Name:
Taxodium distichum

Cultivar:

Native to:
Delaware to Florida, west to southern Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana

Mature Height and Width:
50-70 feet by 20-30 feet, can reach 100 feet high

Additional Notes:
Bald cypress, with its ability to tolerate extreme flooding and capture sediment among its “knees”, profoundly affects floodplain and coastal geography by helping build and protect land from encroaching waters.  Their shallow but interlocking root systems help keep these tenacious trees standing and intact for hundreds of years, even under the most severe hurricanes that sweep through the Gulf of Mexico coast.

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