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Article: Cypress: the hardwood-like softwood. (Wood of the Month)
- Article from:
- Wood & Wood Products
- Article date:
- May 1, 1993
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1993 Vance Publishing Corp. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Cypress trees are conifers, i.e., softwoods, but unlike most American softwoods, these trees are deciduous in that they shed foliage in the fall like hardwoods. The only other softwood that does that is larch (also called tamarack).
Cypress thrives in the South especially in wet, swampy areas. The main species in North America is Taxodium distichum, but others of note include pond cypress, Taxodium ascendens, and Mexican or montezuma cypress, Taxodium mucronatum.
Cypress, or baldcypress as it is commonly known in the United States, grows in a range along the Atlantic Coastal Plain from Delaware to Florida and west along the Gulf of Mexico's coast to the ...