Baldcypress at Pinecrest Gardens

Published on May 28, 2024

The Baldcypress, Taxodium distichum, evocative symbol of southern lakes, rivers, and swamps, is an ancient member of the Cypress family, related to true Cypress, Juniper, and Redwood. The species naturally occurs as far north as Southern Illinois and west to South-Central Texas. Baldcypresses, when not topped by storms or lightning, are the tallest trees found east of the Rocky Mountains, living for many hundreds of years and potentially growing to more than 140 feet.

We might think of old growth tree species in the U.S. occurring mostly in the Pacific Northwest or California, but old growth Baldcypress can be found in the Big Cypress National Preserve and the Everglades. Venerable trees also grow in the Audubon Society’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, east of Naples. An impressive grove of large trees that aren’t publicly accessible is protected by the Seminole Tribe on its Big Cypress Reservation.

Locally, small groups and individually planted Baldcypress can be found in Pinecrest, mostly along canal banks. The most significant and unique population of surviving old growth trees is the remnant along the preserved portion of the historical Snapper Creek slough in Pinecrest Gardens and just across 57 Avenue. These priceless trees, growing just inland from coastal mangroves, have survived countless years of storms and the threat of urban development. Tequesta peoples likely camped and fished beneath them. Perhaps they were mature when the first Spanish explorers made landfall.

Baldcypress populations are considered relatively stable at present, even as overall southern forest loss has accelerated. Coastal populations, in particular, are threatened by rising sea levels and increasing salinity in the wet places where they grow.