Southern Illinois Bald Cypress Swamp
by Dan Busemeyer
Bald
Cypress (Taxodium distichum) swamp in southern Illinois. This habitat
type is nearly permanently flooded. The slow moving water is covered with floating
aquatic vegetation such as duckweed (Lemna minor). Bald cypress trees
are deciduous and can live more than 1000 years. The knobby projections sticking
out of the water are called “knees” and are thought to play a role
in helping to oxygenate the roots of Bald Cypress. Bald Cypress swamps are at
the northernmost limit of their natural range in southern Illinois and once
formed part of a vast network of wetlands along and near rivers across the southern
United States.