Taxodium distichum var. imbricatum description

Tree at North Carolina Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill, NC. The tree is near the time of shedding its foliage [C.J. Earle, Oct-2004].

Bark on the above tree, approx. 15 cm dbh [C.J. Earle, Oct-2004].

Foliage on the above tree, showing the linear cladodes and imbricate foliage for which the variety is named [C.J. Earle, Oct-2004].

Taxodium distichum var. imbricatum (Nuttall) Croom 1837

Common Names

Pondcypress (Watson 1993).

Taxonomic notes

Syn: Cupressus disticha Linnaeus var. imbricaria Nuttall 1818; Taxodium ascendens Brongniart. The name Taxodium distichum (Linnaeus) Richard var. nutans (Aiton) Sweet has been misapplied to this taxon; the type of this name belongs to var. distichum (F. D. Watson 1985) (Watson 1993).

Description

Trees to 30 m tall and 200 cm dbh. "Bark brown to light gray, typically somewhat thicker and more deeply furrowed than that of other varieties. Branchlets with leaves not in 2 ranks, mostly ascending vertically. Leaves ca. 3-10 mm, appressed and overlapping, mostly narrowly lanceolate, free portion not contracted or twisted basally. 2n= 22" (Watson 1993).

Range

USA: North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana at 0-100 m elevation in blackwater rivers, lake margins, swamps, Carolina Bay lakes, pocosins, and wet, poorly drained, pine flatwoods (Watson 1993).

Big Tree

Diameter 230 cm, height 41 m, crown spread 24 m, located in Newton, GA (American forests 1996).

Oldest

Dendrochronology

Ethnobotany

Observations

Remarks

A study of regeneration after fire (Cool and Ewel 1992) has found that "[a]lthough basal sprout reproduction by cypress was common in the burned swamps, no seedlings were found. This suggests that other factors, such as hydroperiod, are important in regeneration of cypress swamps."

Citations

Cool, S. and K.C. Ewel. 1992. Regeneration in burned cypress swamps. Florida Science 55(1):62-65.