Autumn Colours – Swamp Cypress
Image by Geoff J Mckay
The colours in these trees caught my eye when I was on my way to visit my brother-in-law. There were lots of them along SH32 west of Lake Taupo. I managed to find a spot to park the car and jumped out and grabbed this shot, hand-held. After some enquiries I’ve been told that they are Swamp Cypress trees.
Swamp Cypress, or Taxodium distichum, is a hardy deciduous conifer that hails from the southern states on the eastern side of the United States. They mostly grow in wet marshy places and can grow straight out of the water. Swamp Cypress are very handsome deciduous conifers. We tend to think of conifers as being evergreen, like pines and Christmas trees. In springtime the trees are a froth of vivid grass-green new foliage. The lacy fragile foliage needs protection from strong winds or else it crisps and browns. From a gardener’s point of view the tree looks soft and feathery all summer and then in the autumn the leaves turn orange to tan. (www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/lifestyle/6032570/Swa…)
