Cold hardiness

Future

2050

2100

These values are location-based: this location's current hardiness is the baseline, and the 2050 value is a projected future climate for this same location.

Now

Zone 6b

USDA

Published baseline for this location from 1991-2020.

Source: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (1991-2020 climatology) via ArcGIS FeatureServer

Well-suited

2050

Zone 7a

Plotwright

Projected zone for this same location in 2050 (2041-2070) using SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry).

Well-suited

In plain terms: This location is in Zone 6b today. Its hardiness profile is cold winters, and coldest nights are typically around -3°F. By 2050, the projected hardiness zone is Zone 7a based on SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry). That is a +0.5-zone shift from Zone 6b to Zone 7a by 2050.

✓

Well-suited today and still thriving in 2050.

Heat tolerance

Future

2050

2100

Heat tolerance values are location-based too: heat days today are observed at this site, and the 2050 value projects this same location under a future climate.

Loading AHS heat-zone data for this location...

Where this plant fits

Suitable across 41 ecoregions — 40 climate-resilient through 2070 · 1 suited today. Best matches first.

Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests

›

Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests

›

Arizona Mountains forests

›

Atlantic coastal pine barrens

›

Blue Mountains forests

›

Canadian Aspen forests and parklands

›

Central Pacific Northwest coastal forests

›

Central Tallgrass prairie

›

Central-Southern Cascades Forests

›

Chilean Matorral

›

What it needs

Conditions

Light

Full sun

Water

Consistent moisture

Spacing

240"

Habit

Large pyramidal deciduous conifer with a buttressed base

Care tips

•

Give it room — at 50-70 ft tall and up to 45 ft wide it is a large-scale tree for parks, big lawns, and low or wet spots, not small yards.

•

It thrives in wet soil and even standing water but is equally happy in ordinary upland soil; just keep it out of alkaline soil, where chlorosis sets in.

•

Plant in full sun; the soft fall color and bare-stem winter silhouette make it a four-season structural specimen.

Lifecycle

Planting

Plant in spring or fall in full sun in average, medium-to-wet, moisture-retentive but reasonably well-drained soil. Prefers moist, acidic, sandy soils but tolerates a wide range from somewhat dry soils to wet soils in standing water (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder).

Transplanting

Move young, dormant balled-and-burlapped or container trees; give a large tree the room it needs at maturity (50-70 ft tall, 20-45 ft wide) and avoid siting it where the eventual buttressed base or knees would conflict with paving.

Early growth

Water through establishment. Watch for chlorosis (leaf yellowing), which often occurs in alkaline soils — bald cypress prefers acidic conditions per Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder.

Maturity

A long-lived tree maturing at 50-70 ft tall (less frequently to 125 ft) and 20-45 ft wide, deciduous despite being a conifer. Trees standing in or near water develop the characteristic knobby "knees" and a flared, buttressed base. Low maintenance.

Propagation

Propagated from seed (cold-stratified) or from cuttings; verify cultivar restrictions for named selections before propagating.

Pollination

Wind-pollinated

A monoecious, wind-pollinated conifer — Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder records it as non-flowering with inconspicuous brown reproductive structures (it bears cones, not nectar flowers). It does not feed bees or butterflies with nectar; its wildlife value is in cover, seed, and serving as a larval host.

Plants don't grow alone

Larval host

Specialist

Moth

Hawkmoths (Sphingidae (family-level entry))

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center lists bald cypress as the larval host for the baldcypress sphinx moth (Isoparce cupressi), a Taxodium-feeding member of the hawkmoth family (Sphingidae).

Seed forage

Bird

Eastern songbirds (multi-species) (multiple species (Passeriformes))

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center documents wildlife value as cover, nesting sites, foraging substrate for insectivorous birds, and seed for granivorous birds and small mammals; Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder notes it attracts birds.

For people

Not eaten by humans

Grown as a large ornamental and shade tree, historically valued for its rot-resistant timber, but it is not a human food crop.

Native range

Native across 21 US states.

AHS heat range

1-12

Native ecoregions

Naturally belongs in 16 ecoregions — its native range crosses a state or province each one spans (not necessarily this exact habitat).

Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests

›

Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests

›

Atlantic coastal pine barrens

›

Central Tallgrass prairie

›

Chihuahuan desert

›

Cross-Timbers savanna-woodland

›

Eastern Great Lakes lowland forests

›

Edwards Plateau savanna

›

Flint Hills tallgrass prairie

›

Mississippi lowland forests

›

Climate notes

•

Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder lists Taxodium distichum for USDA zones 4 to 9 in full sun with medium-to-wet water needs, and rates it Low maintenance with a Tolerate list of Deer, Clay Soil, Wet Soil, and Urban Conditions.

•

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center documents it as native to the lower 48 (USDA symbol TADI2), recording a US native range across the Southeast and Mississippi/Ohio valley drainage: AL, AR, FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, LA, MD, MO, MS, NC, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, and VA.

•

Per Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder it is native to southern swamps, bayous, and rivers and is a familiar sight growing directly in swampy water in the Deep South, yet in cultivation grows very well in drier upland soils — a versatile large ornamental or shade tree for parks, large lawns, low spots, near water, and rain gardens. Chlorosis often occurs in alkaline soils.

In the designer

Growth over time

600-840" tall · 240-540" spread

Approaching mature 50-70 ft height with full pyramidal crown.

Design roles: Focal point · Structure

Seasonal interest

Spring

Summer

Fall

Winter

Filled = the plant has seasonal interest · ▾ now = your current season

Bald cypress

At a glance

Related products

Why it matters

Cold hardiness

Heat tolerance

Where this plant fits

What it needs

Lifecycle

Pollination

Plants don't grow alone

For people

Native range

Climate notes

In the designer

Seasonal interest

Sources & citations