bald cypress

noun

1

: a large deciduous conifer (Taxodium distichum of the family Taxodiaceae, the bald cypress family) of southern U.S. swamps that has flexible flat needles and is related to the sequoias

also : a related tree (T. mucronatum) of Mexico and southern Texas see cone illustration

2

: the hard red wood of bald cypress that is much used for shingles

Examples of bald cypress in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In the Southeast, pairs build their nests, lined with Spanish moss or other soft vegetation, high in the crowns of tall trees such as pine, bald cypress, or cottonwood, near marshes, rivers, and swamps. —Kait Hanson, Southern Living, 24 June 2024

The unpaved state highway cuts through a slough crowded with bald cypress trees laden with Spanish moss and spidery air plants. —Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 20 May 2024

During the last ice age, bald cypresses grew in what was then a swamp a hundred miles from the ocean. —Veronique Greenwood, New York Times, 6 Feb. 2024

Paddle through the bottomlands and between bald cypress trees covered in Spanish moss over Big Cypress Bayou, or weave through one of the paddling trails across the lake. —Amanda Ogle, Travel + Leisure, 25 Jan. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1709, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

bald cypress

noun

: either of two large swamp trees related to the pine and found in the southern U.S.