Taxodium mucronatum Ten.

Horticultural & Botanical History

Taxodium mucronatum is often regarded as a variety of T. distichum.  ‘There has been considerable disagreement concerning the number of species to recognize within Taxodium.  Britton (1926), Dallimore & Jackson, and Rehder (1940) each recognized three species (T. distichum Rich. (bald cypress). T. ascendens Brongn. (pond cypress), and T. mucronatum Ten. (Tule tree, Montezuma cypress), although substantial intergradation has been reported, particularly between pond and bald cypresses.  Watson (1983, 1985), after reviewing morphological, anatomical, biochemical, and cytological data, concluded that the differences between the pond and bald cypresses are minor, showing considerable overlap and being subject to environmental modification.  Watson thus suggested varietal status (as var. imbricarium (Nutt.) Croom) for the pond cypress, and this treatment is adopted here.

Montezuma cypress is somewhat more distinct in morphology and ecology and is allopatric in distribution (reaching extreme southern Texas from Mexico and Guatemala) and is thus usually treated as the separate species Taxodium mucronatum, although it may be more appropriately treated as a third variety, T. distichum var. mexicanum (Carr.) Gordon.  It differs in being semi-evergreen, retaining its annual leafy shoots until after the new shoots have leafed out in winter or spring, and being considerably less cold hardy in cultivation than the other taxa.  It has sometimes been reported to have larger, more glaucous ovulate cones (Henry & Mclntyre) and longer pollen-cone-bearing branches, but more thorough sampling indicates considerable overlap for these features.’  [Journal of the Arnold Arboretum vol.71, p.293/1990].

History at Camden Park

Listed in the 1850 and 1857 catalogues [C.82/1850].  Obtained from Kew Gardens, brought out from England by Captain P. P. King in 1849.  Believed by Macarthur to be a new introduction to the colony.  [ML A1980-3].

Notes