Bald Cypress

One solid trunk growing straight up from the ground, or from the water, tapering as it gets taller, branches outstretched like arms, hung with Spanish moss. From its feathery green crown down to its knobby knees, the bald cypress is easily the Atchafalaya’s most iconic silhouette. Unlike other conifers, the bald cypress, famously, sheds its leaves every autumn. The feathery green leaves turn copper-colored and fall, leaving the tree “bald” for winter. Bald cypresses are long-lived—trees have been known to live for over a thousand years—and cypress wood is highly resistant to insects and decay, earning it a reputation for longevity. Sadly, because of over-harvesting and permanent changes to the tree’s natural habitat, old-growth cypress forests are vanishingly rare.