Bald Cypress. To me, this is the ultimate tree for the residential landscape. When young, it has a gorgeous pyramidal form. Of course it is a deciduous conifer with feathery, soft green foliage with a rusty red fall color. When the leaves fall, they simply disintegrate on the ground requiring little or no raking. When planted on wet or heavy soils, one will get the notorious "knees". So, don't plant near a walk or driveway under these conditions. But on deep sandy soils, they are rarely produced. It is very fast growing while young and under the right cultural conditions, it may put on 3 to 4 feet of growth in a season. Native to the Southeast U.S. Bald Cypress grow superbly well on high ground as well as a wet environment, but one usually always sees them growing in the wild where they are surrounded by water. I once asked an old forester about this and he pointed out that Taxodium has such thin bark that they will succumb to almost any fire; whereas, by sitting in water, they are protected. Most of the species are grown from seed. So notice the "seedling variation" in the first picture. This was taken in an un-irrigated parking lot in Augusta, GA and the trees are thriving with no "knees."
