Here we have the Bald Cypress, or Taxodium distichum, a decidious southern conifer sometimes called "the wood eternal" due to its extremely durable heartwood. It's the longest-living tree in the eastern United States, often surpassing 1,000 years of age. This large tree can reach heights of 120 feet with a diameter of 10 feet or more. Fast-growing and long-lived, the Bald Cypress has mature bark that is thin and reddish-brown or gray, featuring vertical ridges that start to peel with age. When grown in wet sites, the base of the tree is often buttressed and surrounded by knees. The needles are short and yellow-green, and the cones, about the size of golf balls, turn purple when they ripen in the fall. These cones, with their shield-shaped scales, mature in a single season and shatter at the end.
