Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_taxodium_distichum
Bald Cypress
Taxodium distichum
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About Bald Cypress
Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. The accepted broad species range in Kew extends from eastern central and southeastern United States to Guatemala. Characteristic bald-cypress morphology occurs in lowland river floodplains and swamps. Government forestry records document historical planting of Taxodium distichum on Kauaʻi. Current survival, naturalization, abundance, reproduction and ecological effects remain unconfirmed; public occurrence is island-level only.
Kauaʻi evidence
Taxonomic identity, tree form, diagnostic morphology and island occurrence use the linked reviewed sources. Historical planting, cultivation, naturalization and invasive status are separate. Generated imagery is not occurrence evidence. The 1918–1959 Kauaʻi reforestation working register records 6,416 plants under Taxodium distichum across 7 entries dated 1927–1936. These are recorded planting quantities, not counts of surviving trees, and they do not by themselves establish current persistence, naturalization, or ecological impact. Source: Kauaʻi Reforestation Plantings 1918–1959 working register (user-supplied; reconciled 6 October 2026).
Names and classification
- Scientific name
- Taxodium distichum
- Common names
- Bald Cypress · Swamp cypress
- Other names
- Taxodium distichum · Bald cypress · Swamp cypress
- Record type
- Species
Kauaʻi occurrence and status
- Kauaʻi occurrence
- Recorded on Kauaʻi
- Origin
- Introduced
- Conservation status
- Not yet assessed
- Evidence date
- 2026-10-06
- Evidence limits
- Current survival on Kauaʻi, numbers, occupied habitat, reproduction and ecological effects are unconfirmed; historical planting does not establish naturalization.
Habitat and ecology
- Habitats
- Not yet assessed
- Food and resource needs
- Not yet assessed
- Reproduction
- Pollen cones occur in pendent branched panicles and seed cones mature and shatter in one season. The woody scales bear one or two irregularly three-angled wingless seeds. Kauaʻi cone production, seed viability and recruitment are unknown.
- Shelter
- Not yet assessed
- Growth form
- Deciduous coniferous tree
Threats and conservation
- Monitoring
- Not yet assessed
- Data gaps
- Current population extent and trajectory · Additional species-specific ecological and conservation sources
Process and seasonal context
- Seasonal timing
- Not yet assessed
- Seasonal description
- Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. The accepted broad species range in Kew extends from eastern central and southeastern United States to Guatemala. Characteristic bald-cypress morphology occurs in lowland river floodplains and swamps. Government forestry records document historical planting of Taxodium distichum on Kauaʻi. Current survival, naturalization, abundance, reproduction and ecological effects remain unconfirmed; public occurrence is island-level only.
Sources and further reading
- https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30052311-2/general-information
- https://floranorthamerica.org/Taxodium_distichum
- https://floranorthamerica.org/Taxodium
- https://midwestherbaria.org/portal/taxa/index.php?clid=5868&taxauthid=1&taxon=34016
- https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/47617.pdf
- https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/taxodium-distichum/