Pond Cypress
Taxodium ascendens
Plant Family: Cupressaceae
Leaves: Short needles, usually pressed against the twigs; on some branches the needles may spread out from the twigs to a greater degree; the needles are shed in the fall, though new growth may persist until winter.
Bark: Gray, furrowed, flaking off in strips, the branches are brown, the twigs often held upright along the branches.
Cones: A round green cone, to 3 cm, turning brown at maturity; typically seen summer to fall, but also at other times of the year.
Habitat: Wet areas with standing water.
Growth Form: Medium-sized to large tree with the base often thick and buttressed.
Similar Species: Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) is a larger tree when mature, has longer needles that are spread out from the twig, and is more likely to possess cypress knees, woody projections around the tree that rise from the roots.
Comments: Pond Cypress forms the circular dwarf cypress domes of the Everglades; it is found throughout Florida, west along the coastal plain to Louisiana and north to the Carolinas. Some taxonomists consider Bald Cypress and Pond Cypress to be varieties of the same species.
