Taxodium distichum
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Common name: Bald cypress, swamp cypress
Taxodium distichum is a deciduous conifer native to the southeastern US. Visitors are fascinated by its 'knees', outgrowths of its roots which may aerate and/or stabilize the tree. Its needles turn a dark orange in the autumn. The botanic name comes from the Latin word Taxus meaning yew, and the epithet means 'two ranks' referring to the needle arrangement.
In 1985, extensive remains of a fossil forest of dawn redwood and bald cypress 45 million years old were discovered in the Arctic, an insight into global climate change in the past.
Fall colour photo and 'knees' photos by Hughie Jones