Taxodium distichum (bald cypress, "Numasugi")

Japanese name: ヌマスギ （沼杉）
Scientific name: Taxodium distichum

[Overview]
A deciduous coniferous tree 30–35 m tall with a trunk 1–2 m in diameter, often growing wild in swamps and lakeside wetlands with its base submerged in water.
It is long-lived.
The trunk is upright.
Stake-like breathing roots (knee roots) often emerge around the plant.
The branches are of two kinds, long shoots and short shoots; on long shoots the needle-like leaves are arranged spirally.
On short shoots, linear leaves 1–2 cm long and 0.1–0.2 cm wide are alternate and look like pinnately compound leaves.
The leaves turn brown in autumn and fall together with the short shoots.
There are male and female flowers; the male flowers gather in large numbers at the branch tips in tail-like clusters about 10 cm long and hang down.
The female inflorescences are borne at the branch tips.
The fruit is a spherical cone 2–3.5 cm in diameter.
The seeds are 0.5–1 cm long and have three ridges.

[History]
It came to Japan in the Meiji period.

[Uses]
The wood is water-resistant and light, so it is used for railway sleepers, ship timber, roof boards and the like.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed or by cuttings.
Cuttings taken from young seedlings root better.
It is a plant suited to warm-temperate regions, and suitable planting areas extend as far as southern Kanto.
It suits sunny sites with moist soil rich in humus, and is best planted around ponds and the like.
It becomes a large tree, so it needs sufficient space.
There are no particular pests or diseases.

[Notes]
Because the leaves fall together with the short shoots, it has the other name Rakuusho (落羽松).

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