My second-most admired tree in the southern States of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Lousiana are the "Bald Cypress". I discovered this tree during a walk in a residential area in Florida, and the owner gave me its name. When googling it, I realized that these are the legendary “swamp trees” in countless photographs I have seen before.
It’s hard to mistake the Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) for any other tree. These tall conifers with flared trunk bases are representative for the Florida Everglades and Louisiana - where it is the State Tree.
They prefer to grow in swamps and bayous of the southeastern United States from Maryland to Texas. You will notice them later in the year for the beautiful russet-red fall color of its lacy needles.
These trees can also thrive in drier, upland soils in plant hardiness zones 4 through 9 - if watered well. The soil should be very acidic, moist and sandy. Irrigate regularly. Its delicate, feathery foliage is sage green when new, turns to copper-gold in autumn and then falls with the first frosts, leaving the tree "bald."
It is a large, slow-growing, and long-lived tree. It typically grows to heights of 35–120 feet (10–40 m) and has a trunk diameter of 3–6 feet. Plant them at least 50 ft apart if you plan a group to allow “air” between the trees. The tallest know specimen can be found near Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, with a height of 145 ft. The oldest known living specimen, in Bladen County, North Carolina, is over 1,620 years old.
Bald Cypress Shade trees are available in Nurseries and garden centers, starting at ca. $70 for an 8 gallons pot. It might grow from 1 to 2 ft per year in favorable conditions.
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Teo Spengler from SFGate explains how to grow them from seed - if you have patience:
Harvest bald cypress fruits on the ground beneath the tree in autumn. Look for round cones that have not opened. Store them in a warm location to dry for several weeks.
Break the cones into small pieces, each containing one or more seeds. Separating the seeds from the sappy cone segments is very hard, but you can plant them together.
Fill the bottom one-half of a plastic bag with wet sand. Place the seeds and cone pieces into the bag with the sand. Store the bag in a refrigerator for two to four months at a temperature between 30 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
Fill a planting tray with wet sphagnum moss. Remove the plastic bag from the refrigerator, and take the seeds and cone pieces from the plastic bag. Sow the seeds and cone pieces in the wet sphagnum moss. Press each seed and cone piece until it is 1/2 inch below the surface of the moss. Sow 10 seeds for every one tree you wish to grow. The germination rate for bald cypress seeds varies greatly. Saturate the moss with water, but do not flood the seeds. Maintain the wet condition of the planting medium until the seeds germinate, which generally takes one to three months.
Read more here:
https://homeguides.sfgate.com/propagate-bald-cypress-68246.html
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