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Sweet Pondcypress

T. distichum var. nutans (Ait.)
Taxodiaceae—Redwood family
Contributors
Introduction
Distribution and Environmental Associations
Life History Traits, Reproduction, and Early Growth
Tree Growth and Stand Dynamics
Goods and Services
Pond Cypress knees next to pond
Other Common Names
Pondcypress
Cypress
Black-cypress
Published
December 1, 1990

Authors
  • L. P. Wilhite
  • J. R. Toliver

Pondcypress is less likely than baldcypress to have knees, and its knees are shorter and more rounded. Its fluted base tends to have rounded rather than sharp ridges and its bark usually is more coarsely ridged (24). Its branchlets are more ascending than those of baldcypress (44), but unfortunately it was given the varietal name nutans (nodding) from observation of a cultivated variation having drooping branches (43). Typical specimens of pondcypress have nearly scale like leaves, which are appressed along the twig in several ranks. Seedlings and fast-growing shoots of pondcypress, however, often have disichous (two-ranked) leaves much like typical baldcypress foliage (39). Despite the usual differences in appearance between the two varieties, not all specimens are typical, and it is often difficult and sometimes impossible to distinguish them (44).

Distribution Map

The native range map of pondcypress. Click to zoom
Distribution Map
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The native range map of pondcypress.

Distribution

Current Distribution

Pondcypress grows from southeastern Virginia to southern Florida to southeastern Louisiana and almost always at elevations below 30 m (100 ft).

Environmental Associations

Climate and Elevation

Humid and moist subhumid climatic types occur within the range of pondcypress. Normal precipitation increases from about 1220 mm (48 in) per year in southeastern Virginia to 1630 mm (64 in) along the east Gulf Coast. The growing season increases from about 240 days in southeastern Virginia to about 300 days in southeastern Louisiana to virtually 365 days in southern Florida. Average annual minimum temperatures increase from about -12° C (10° F) in southeastern Virginia to 4° C (40° F) in southern Florida (31).

Soils and Geology

Pondcypress grows on the very poor and poorly drained phases of Spodosols and Ultisols (40) of the thermic and hyperthermic soil temperature regimes. Soils range from sands to clays to mucks to peats.

Pondcypress occupies the shallow ponds and poorly drained areas of the Coastal Plain and rarely grows in the river and stream swamps as does baldcypress (44). There is evidence that pondcypress does not grow on soils with a pH above 6.8 and bald cypress does not grow on soils with a pH below 5.5 (35), but it is not known if the range in which both grow might be narrower than pH 5.5 to 6.8.

Pondcypress sites in general are much less fertile than baldcypress sites. Pondcypress grows on more acid soils, and it seldom grows on sites that receive periodic subsidies of nutrients from floodwaters.

Pondcypress stands almost always are found on flat topography or in slight depressions often called domes (16); therefore, little is known concerning growth of pondcypress in relation to higher topographic features.

Sexual Reproduction

Flowers, Pollination, and Fruit

A sample of pondcypress seeds numbered 8 900/kg (4,040/lb) (45). Generally, the flowering characteristics, seeds, seeding habits, vegetative reproduction, and reaction to competition appear to be similar to those of baldcypress. Trees are monoecious, seeds are distributed by gravity and water, germination is epigeal, and the species is capable of sprouting and is classed as intermediate in its tolerance to shade. In shallow ponds, both soil and water conditions appear singularly favorable for pondcypress seed germination and early growth, for here natural reproduction is almost always uniformly abundant (44).

Plant Associations and Site Conditions

Pondcypress is the dominant species in the forest cover type Pondcypress (Society of American Foresters Type 100) (17). It is an associate species in Longleaf Pine-Slash Pine (Type 83), Slash Pine (Type 84), Slash Pine-Hardwood (Type 85), Pond Pine (Type 98), Baldcypress (Type 101), Water Tupelo-Swamp Tupelo (Type 103), and Sweetbay-Swamp Tupelo-Redbay (Type 104).

The most common sites for pondcypress are the shallow ponds of the Coastal Plain. Here, its chief tree associate is swamp tupelo. Along the margins and on slightly elevated positions within the ponds, associates are pines (Pinus spp.), red maple, sweetbay, and loblolly-bay (Gordonia lasianthus). Lesser vegetation associates include common buttonbush, yaupon (Ilex vomitoria), swamp cyrilla (Cyrilla racemiflora), viburnums, swamp privet (Forestiera acuminata), southern bayberry (Myrica cerifera), bitter gallberry (Ilex glabra), ferns, and vines (17).

In addition to growing in the ponds of the Coastal Plain, pondcypress is found in some of the swamps along "black water" rivers and creeks, in Carolina bays, in the Okefenokee Swamp, and in pondcypress savannahs. On these various sites, associates of pond cypress include most of those listed above plus many others (2,46).

Successional Stages and Structural Development

In the 1982 "National Register of Big Trees," the champion pondcypress, which grows in Georgia, was reported to be 229 cm (90 in) in d.b.h. and 41.1 m (135 ft) tall (1). This is approaching the size of the larger baldcypress. Such giants, however, are much more rare among pondcypress than among baldcypress. Although little information is recorded about the growth rate of pondcypress, general observations indicate that the tree does not attain the age and large size of baldcypress, nor does it grow as fast. The smaller size and slower growth of pondcypress may be inherent but are also attributable to the poor site conditions under which the tree usually grows (44).

Because of its generally thicker bark, pondcypress is more resistant to fire than baldcypress (24).

Goods

Wood Products

Lumbermen commonly cut and sell pondcypress and baldcypress timber together without distinguishing between them (28).

Ecosystem Services

Biodiversity

Pondcypress ponds, domes (or heads), and savannahs provide the only breeding opportunity for a number of tree frogs, toads, and salamanders; provide nesting sites and habitats for herons, egrets, and many other birds; and are watering places for the birds, mammals, and reptiles of the surrounding pinelands. These wet areas serve as recharge areas for surface aquifers, and research has shown that pondcypress domes can serve as tertiary sewage treatment facilities in improving water quality, recharging ground water, and possibly increasing pondcypress growth rates (46). Functions of these domes and cypress swamps are discussed in depth in the book "Cypress Swamps" (16).

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Citations
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