bald cypress

noun

1. a tree, Taxodium distichum, of swampy areas of the southern U.S., having featherlike needles and cone-shaped projections growing up from the roots, yielding a hardwood used in construction, shipbuilding, etc.

bald cypress

noun

1. another name for swamp cypress

Word History and Origins

Origin of bald cypress¹

An Americanism dating back to 1700–10

Example Sentences

During the last ice age, bald cypresses grew in what was then a swamp a hundred miles from the ocean.

From New York Times

They were able to remove English ivy that covered most of a champion bald cypress tree.

From Science Daily

The population drastically declined when its host trees, 1,000-year-old bald cypresses, were logged in World War Two to provide lumber for aircraft carrier decks.

From BBC

They’re also being planted alongside native trees like sweet gum, tulip trees and bald cypress, to avoid genetically identical stands of trees known as monocultures; non-engineered poplars are being planted as experimental controls.

From New York Times

The living trees are also impressively enduring: In 2019, a North Carolina bald cypress was determined to be more than 2,600 years old.

From Washington Post