The boat ramp closes when the river reads 33' on the Cape Girardeau river gauge. The boat ramp is not usable when the Mississippi River is at or below 8' on the Cape Girardeau river gauge.
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Scientific Name
Taxodium distichum
Family
Cupressaceae (cypresses)
Description
Bald cypress is a large tree up to 130 feet tall, with a swollen base. The growth habit is pyramidal, or else with an open, flat-topped crown. Often has cone-shaped “knees” emerging from roots of the tree if growing in water. Loses its leaves in the fall.
Leaves are needlelike, alternate, in 2 rows along small twigs. Each leaf is ¼–¾ inch long, flat, linear, green, turning reddish brown in autumn. Leaves are shed in autumn still attached to the small twigs.
Bark is cinnamon brown to gray, thick, with long, narrow grooves and flat, long ridges that peel off in fibrous, narrow strips.
Twigs are light green on new growth, turning reddish brown with age, smooth, flexible. Side twigs green, falling with leaves still attached.
Flowers March–April. Male and female cones are found on the same tree.
Fruit, ripening October–November, is a round cone 1 inch in diameter, green changing to purple, with 9–15 tightly closed, shield-shaped scales that turn woody and brown and open at maturity to release seeds. Each scale bears two irregular, winged seeds approximately ¼ inch in length.
Other Common Names
Baldcypress
Size
Height: to 130 feet.
Where To Find
Native to the swamps, sloughs, and riverbanks of Missouri’s Bootheel and southeastern Missouri. However, this species is a popular landscape tree that has been planted in yards and parks statewide.
Habitat and Conservation
Occurs in swamps, sloughs, and wet bottomland forests; widely planted as an ornamental. The oldest bald cypress trees in Missouri can be found at Allred Lake Natural Area, where they range from 500 to 1,000 years old — this is the last remaining stand of old-growth bald cypress in the state.
Human Connections
A popular ornamental, this tree was planted in European landscapes as early as 1640. Its majestic form graces many large public landscapes. The wood of bald cypress is highly resistant to decay and is sometimes called "wood eternal." It has been used for paneling, construction lumber, barrels, caskets, boats, shingles, railroad ties, dock posts, bridge pilings and beams, water tanks, and fence posts. Native Americans used the trunks for canoes.
Ecosystem Connections
The seeds are eaten by squirrels and many birds, including wood ducks. The knees provide habitat for a variety of aquatic organisms. Prothonotary warblers frequently utilize the tree cavities for nesting near water, and the submerged trunk bases provide a substrate for aquatic mosses and algae. Wood ducks often nest in the hollow trunks of old trees. Many bird species nest in the tree's boughs. Bald cypress trees also become crucial habitat for more animals after the trees die, fall, and begin to rot on the forest floor.
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Media Gallery
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Caption
Bald cypress, Taxodium distichum.
Credit
Paul Nelson
Right to Use
Photo by Paul Nelson, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
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Credit
Jim Rathert
Right to Use
Photo by Jim Rathert, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
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Caption
Early in the growing season, the immature cones of bald cypress look more conelike than they do in the fall.
Credit
Susan Ferber
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Use of this image is restricted to MDC only
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Caption
Bald cypress needles turn rust-colored in fall before dropping off.
Credit
Julianna Schroeder
Right to Use
Photo by Julianna Schroeder, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
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Caption
Swampland dominated by bald cypress trees once covered much of Missouri's Bootheel.
Right to Use
Photo by MDC Staff, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
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Credit
Jim Rathert
Right to Use
Use of this image is restricted to MDC only
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Caption
Bald cypress's swollen, buttressed trunk bases and cone-shaped “knees” are adaptations for growing in swampy habitats.
Credit
Jim Rathert
Right to Use
Use of this image is restricted to MDC only
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Caption
Bald cypress occurs in swamps, sloughs, and wet bottomland forests. It is also widely planted as an ornamental.
Credit
Jennifer Behnken
Right to Use
Photo by Jennifer Behnken, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
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Credit
Jim Rathert
Right to Use
Use of this image is restricted to MDC only
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Caption
Look for last remnants of color in the coppery pigments of bald cypress trees.
Credit
Jennifer Behnken
Right to Use
Photo by Jennifer Behnken, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
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Caption
Bald cypress at the Cape Conservation Nature Center in Cape Girardeau
Credit
Jennifer Behnken
Right to Use
Photo by Jennifer Behnken, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation
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Where to See Species
When early explorers were making their way across what would be southeastern Missouri, they saw a seemingly endless expanse of bottomland hardwood timber and an interconnecting complex of sloughs and
Hornersville Swamp Conservation Area is in southernmost Dunklin County, two miles southeast of Hornersville.
Ben Cash Memorial Conservation Area is in Dunklin county, six miles west of Highway 412 on Route A. The Route A and Highway 412 junction is three miles south of Kennett.
Wolf Bayou contains 263 acres, of which 220 are forest. The area was purchased with Conservation Department funds between 1971-73.Eight acres are leased from the St.
About Trees, Shrubs and Woody Vines in Missouri
There are no sharp dividing lines between trees, shrubs, and woody vines, or even between woody and nonwoody plants. “Wood” is a type of tissue made of cellulose and lignin that many plants develop as they mature — whether they are “woody” or not. Trees are woody plants over 13 feet tall with a single trunk. Shrubs are less than 13 feet tall, with multiple stems. Vines require support or else sprawl over the ground.
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