NOTE
In 2021 Tree People of Walla Walla published a page expressing our surprise at finding a Bald Cypress, native to the swamps of southeast North America, in our high desert community.
In the summer of 2022 the public utility topped the tree, for reasons unknown. We could no longer feature a tree that had been so disfigured, and we removed the page from this website.
We have since found a number of other Bald Cypresses thriving locally and have restored the page with a few changes.
Most of us have seen images of the southern swamps, with the iconic Bald Cypress trees (Taxodium distichum) standing knee-deep in water. Cypress wood has a smooth grain, is light weight, and is naturally resistant to insects, disease, and water damage. For these reasons bald cypress is desirable, expensive and increasingly rare. Today, due to logging and loss of habitat, the future of this native species has become uncertain.
Bald cypress produce cones every year, but produce a quantity of viable seeds only every three to five years.
The seeds will fall and germinate under water; however, the water level must remain below the leaves of the emerging seedling for the tree to survive.
There are a number of other Bald Cypresses in Walla Walla, including these pictured below. Who brought these trees to Walla Walla?
SOURCES
North Carolina Bald Cypress Tree Is at Least 2,674 Years Old, Eos, June 11, 2019
Losing a Louisiana Icon, Envirobites, April 28, 2018
ABCC (Ancient Bald Cypress Consortium)
Rare, Threatened and Endangered; Bald Cypress Swamps, MD DNR (This page has been deprecated.)
Tree People of Walla Walla 