Tree · Cupressaceae
Bald cypress
Taxodium distichum
Bald cypress is recorded as native to 19 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 506 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Bald cypress at a glance
- Native in
- 506 counties, across 19 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5b PLANTS minimum temperature −18°F
- Mature height
- 130 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade High water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 5b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −18°F; zone 5b winters bottom out at −15°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Bald cypress is recorded as native to 19 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 506 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 506 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 36 counties
- Arkansas 58 counties
- Delaware 2 counties
- Florida 60 counties
- Georgia 29 counties
- Illinois 14 counties
- Indiana 5 counties
- Kentucky 27 counties
- Louisiana 62 counties
- Maryland 4 counties
- Mississippi 47 counties
- Missouri 18 counties
- New York 2 counties
- North Carolina 35 counties
- Oklahoma 3 counties
- South Carolina 18 counties
- Tennessee 18 counties
- Texas 40 counties
- Virginia 28 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 130 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Shape
- Conical
- Lifespan
- Long
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- High water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- High
- Precipitation range
- 40 to 65 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.5 to 6
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- None
- Salinity tolerance
- High
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 40 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −18°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 160
- Fire tolerance
- Low
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Purple
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Mid Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Cupressaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- TADI2
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Taxodium distichum (PLANTS symbol TADI2).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources