Montezuma Cypress

Botanical Name: Taxodium mucronatum

Large, needle-leaf, aquatic tree with tall, straight trunk and broad crown of spreading branches and drooping twigs, evergreen or nearly so. Trunk enlarged at base with ridges above; sometimes small "knees" project from submerged roots.

The national tree of Mexico, Montezuma Baldcypress is closely related to the Baldcypress of the southeastern United States, T. distichum (which also occurs in Mexico), but is usually evergreen and is not hardy in cold climates. The Big Tree of Tule, near Oaxaca, Mexico, is a famous giant. Apparently formed by the fusion of 3 trees, it has a trunk circumference of 112 ft (34 m) and a height of 141 ft (43 m). The majestic veterans in Chapultepec Park, Mexico City, are taller, reaching 165' (50 m), and are among the oldest cultivated trees in the New World, perhaps exceeding 600 years.