The Bald Cypress has really bounced back from a severe mauling by the last beaver that lived in the lake. About this time four years ago, the furry lumberjack took up residence in the lake, built a little pond, and wreaked havoc with my landscape. He felled the beautiful Bald Cypress tree and stripped it bare. I was sure the tree was dead. Here’s the sad picture.
You can check out the account of his mayhem at
But nature is resilient and you can see that the Bald Cypress didn’t die—it’s full and lush. For the first time ever, it’s produced fruit, too. These little grey-green globes will thicken and turn brown as they mature. Very few birds can crack the tough hull to get to the seed so it isn’t a favorite food.
This lovely tree is a deciduous conifer that grows 50 to 70 feet tall. It does well in wet areas like the marsh and all the rain this summer helped the Bald Cypress recover. Of course, the tree won’t be as stately as it was before. Now it resembles a bushy Christmas tree. Seeing it, though, makes me think about that beaver. Now that the marsh is overgrown with wild willow trees and sycamores, he needs to return and tidy up.
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