Calling a tree a cypress may cause some confusion - if you're talking to a Botanist. There are physiological differences in populations of cypresses (Ewel, C. 1990).

The Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) has needles that spread feather-like from the twig and bark that drops away from the tree in strips. The Pondcypress, Taxodium distichum var.nutants (L.) Rich. or Taxodium ascendens Brongn. to some, have needles that are appressed or spiraled around the twig and shed bark in rectangular plates (Mohlenbrock, R.H.,1994). Pondcypresses tend to grow in nutrient-poor habitats and are associated with Nyssa specie black gum while the Baldcypress inhabits more nutrient friendly environments and are analogous with the Nyssa specie water tupelo (Hackney, C.T., 1992).

There is even a montezuma baldcypress (Taxodium mucronatum ten.) Native to south Texas (Niering, W.A., 1987). Baldcypresses are unique in that they are conifers, yet shed their needles in the fall. In this regard they are deciduous conifers with the added peculiarity of dropping needle-bearing twigs in fall. This gives the winter cypress a 'bald' appearance. Both needles and twigs are regenerating the spring.

Typically cypresses are pyramidal in early development, gradually spreading horizontally and upwards with maturity. Bark is gray to brown plates or strips, depending on variation, and exhibit sloughing /bark fall in the spring (Schlesinger, W.H., 1978).

Cypresses have swollen buttresses and modified roots called pneumatophores or 'knees'. A "big based" tree is an indicator of a hydrologic regime (Lyon, J.G., 1993). Pneumatophores were once thought to assist gas exchange but subsequent studies show this proposed function to be negligible; < .9% (Brown,S.L.,1981) .

Cypresses are monoecious; the cone is round and usually at the end of twig as a single, pair, or clusters. Male are small drooping panicles, appearing as purple-green tassels (Dean, B.E.,1968). Distribution of cypresses depends on variant. Nutants favors warmer or coastal environments while distichum extends further northwest and inland along the Mississippi River drainage. Climate as well as habitat preferences contribute to cypress distribution and one study (McLeod, K.W. & Sherrod, C., 1981) indicates temperature sensitivity as a factor in germination and seedling survival. Most bottomland and alluvial swamp forests in the United States southeast have stands of cypresses (Martin, W.H. & Boyce, S.C. & Echternacht, A.C.)

Major cypress swamps range from the Pocomoke River Swamp in Maryland to The Big Thicket (commonly Hall's Swamp) in Texas. Each has distinctive characteristics aside from geography.

In favorable environments mature cypresses reach heights of 100' to 120' and have a diameter of 3' to 5' (Elias, E.S., 1987) but in some nutrient deficient/anoxic habitats populations of stunted trees exist and actually live for hundreds of years.

Environmental conditions surrounding cypresses have a common denominator of hydroperiod dependence; however water regimes and hydrologic conditions vary. Cypresses show amazing flexibility coping with hydrologic variables. The majority of cypress swamps fall under certain classifications: still water cypress domes, alluvial river swamps, strands, dwarf cypresses, and lake edge cypress swamps. Briefly, domes are depressions with poor drainage and nutants tend to be the dominant species. Dwarf cypress swamps share the same drainage problems (respectively due to lack of appropriate substrata: hardpan and limestone) but cover larger areas, i.e., sections of the Everglades. Cypresses in dwarf swamps (nutants) are small in statue due to poor growing conditions. Both pigmy and domes have similar stresses such as limited nutrition and unpredictable or short hydroperiods. Strands occur in south Florida and are driven by slow flowing streams of fresh water following declining plain elevations. More familiar to people in Alabama are the lake edge cypress swamps and the alluvial river swamps. As the name suggests, lake edge swamps are found on the margins of lakes and benefit from upland nutrient runoff and fluctuating water tables. Cypresses in alluvial river swamps and associated floodplains receive the best of available resources. River pulsing provide cypresses with flooding causing toxin flushing and relief from anoxic conditions. Flooding also distributes nutrients and needed minerals in the form of sedimentation while subsequent drawdowns allow for seed germination. Cypresses grow at various elevations in a riparian arena, frequently mingling with facultative species in drier soils. Cypress/hardwood stands have higher drainage than the lower elevated cypress/tupelo swamp (Mitsch, W.J., 1979). Many researchers, in the past, have speculated that upland drainage exported more organic carbon than lower less-gradient southern watershed swamps. Surprisingly, in a study (Mulholland, J.P., 1981) the opposite is observed because of 1) large water surfaces accumulating immense litterfall from cypress/tupelo canopy and 2) longer leaching; Several studies have yielded interesting cypress/hydrologic interactions. In a permanently flooded site, cypresses exhibit increases in growth (ring studies) for several years followed by a growth deterioration (Young, P.D. & Keeland, B.D. & Sharitz, R.R., 1995). This phenomenon is probably related to initial elimination of competition followed by the slow reduction processes in flooded area. In a similar light, seedlings that are continuously flooded and survive show lower r/s ratio and lower biomass than seedlings in periodically flooded conditions (Megonial, J.P. & Day, F.P., 1992).

No discussion of cypresses should exist without a little fire. Fire is rare in swamps because of abundant water but some cypress swamps aren't always wet. Sometimes a dome in drought or drained swamp can catch on fire. Instead of killing cypresses, fire tends to burn and kill other species that compete with the cypress. Fire can be a cypress's best friend. While we're on the subject of competition, let's review a few factors. Generally, because of dense canopy and hydrologic regimes, cypress swamps exclude most species that could be competitive; however, there has been recent concern about invasive exotics in south Florida. Brazilian peppers and three species of Australian pine threaten the habitats of Cypress swamps as well as other wetlands (Boucher, N., 1996).

The worst enemy of the cypress has always been man. Cypress wood is water resistance and extremely durable, qualities that too often lead to logging. Cypress wood has been used for roof shingles, railroad ties, barrels, and even PT boats. One example of intensive harvesting of cypress occurred in 1909 when a company logged over 430 million board feet of timber from the Okefenokee (Line, L., 1999)

How about some fun stuff - let's say. . . paleobotany! Several petrified cypress logs have been unearthed near bogs in as far north as Maine. There is an 80,000 year old petrified cypress log in a museum in Massachusetts. In 1931, during a subway excavation in Philadelphia, a cypress stump 17 feet in circumference was discovered. This artifact has been dated as being 100,000 years old. There have been many discoveries of "cypress-like conifers" estimated to be millions of years old.

What is the oldest living cypress? Two trees, in the Black River Swamp, have been dated as being 1250 years old. Hypothetically one other tree, at Four Hole swamp in South Carolina, is considered to be at least 2000 years old but the tree has heart rot and can not be dated accurately.

The largest? Go to Cat Island Swamp near St. Francisville and find the tree that is 53 feet 8 inches in circumference at bole height of four feet.

Close to my house is a riparian continuum on the Coosa River. The cypress trees growing there typifies the majestic stands one sees in books - with their lacey foliage draped with Spanish moss and distinctive knees. Sometimes I go there to fish or just look at the landscape. Hokey as it may seem, I can't look at these trees without thinking of the word 'noble'. They are the sequoias of the South and deserve our protection. With our care and preservation, we can pass some our heritage and unmistakable environment to future generations.