The tree of the month for November is the bald cypress. The bald cypress, Taxodium distichum, is a native deciduous-conifer. It’s one of the few conifers in the United States that loses its leaves every fall, hence the name ‘bald cypress’. Before losing its leaves it displays a dazzling fall color that can be seen during the fall months. Most are turning red and brown right now, offering some color to our urban forest. The bald cypress thrives in swampy wet areas and outcompetes other species in these ecosystems creating large cypress domes that can be seen in some of our local parks. One of the iconic traits of the bald cypress are the cypress knees which are actually portions of the roots that grow out of the ground around the tree. Although their function isn’t completely understood, some scientists hypothesize that they aid in obtaining oxygen when situated in wet conditions where roots are constantly submerged in water. This long-lived, slow growing species of cypress makes for a very good urban tree as can be seen in the photo of cypress trees located at Willowbranch Park. Because they are so hardy and do well in low oxygen conditions they make for a very good tree in urban settings where anaerobic conditions are common. For an example of some newly planted bald cypress in our urban landscape, take a stroll down King Street. These cypress trees replaced Bradford Pear trees that had met the end of their short lifespans.