Bald cypresses on Onion Creek

Bald cypresses on Onion Creek; click for greater detail.

Yesterday’s abstract, minimalist view of a bald cypress “rainbow” seems to call for a more traditional landscape photograph so that those of you who are unfamiliar with these large and majestic trees can see what they look like. This picture goes back to February of 2007 and to a stretch of Onion Creek in Hays County, southwest of Austin. Because the season was still winter the trees had their “bald” look and the creek, unlike so many in 2011, had water in it. As is clear here, bald cypresses thrive not just near water but most often partially in it.

European and American emigrants to Texas in the 1800s were attracted to bald cypresses for their timber, but because the settlers cut down so many trees, we who are here more than a century later rarely get to see a bald cypress as gigantic as it is the nature of this species to become when mature.

(Visit the USDA website for more information about Taxodium distichum, including a clickable map showing where the species grows.)

© 2011 Steven Schwartzman