Tree-Walk through Leopold's Park
Identity
Category :
Arbre remarquable
Latin name :
Taxodium distichum
French name :
Cyprès chauve
Dutch name :
Moerascipres
English name :
Bald cypress
Family :
Taxaceae
Height :
24 m
Targeted height :
This species can grow up to 35–45 m
Diameter of the crown :
14 m
Trunk circumference :
230 cm
Expected circumference :
500 cm
Expected longevity :
Can live for more than 1200 years, perhaps up to 3000 years in its area of origin
Origin / Indigenous
South-eastern USA
Favorite soil :
Likes damp soils
Favorite climate
Temperate, warm (and preferably damp), but adapts to cool temperate climates
Usefulness and services of the tree :
Enhances the landscape :
+++
trio that adorns the edge of the pond
Enhances the biodiversity :
++
relatively rare species
Provide oxygen :
++
large leaf area in summer
Purify the air :
++
group effect
Filter the water :
+++
appreciate moist soils
Prevents flooding :
+++
pump and sweat a lot of water
Stores carbon :
++
very strong and durable wood
Softens the climate :
++
shades the walk around the pond
Limits soil erosion :
+++
stabilize the banks
Does good, heals :
ornamental species
Collection of the Belgian Federal State on permanent loan to the Meise Botanical Garden: Mouillefert, Traité des arbres et arbrissaux, Atlas, pl. 32bis, 1892-1898
Features and characters of the individual
Several bald cypress trees were planted by gardeners to embellish Parc Léopold in the 1980s. Their pyramid shape stands out clearly in the landscape. Their red-brown bark adds a warm tone in morning mists. Reflecting in the pond, their foliage is pale green in spring and red in autumn. Bald cypresses are a rare type of conifer that is struck with “baldness” during the colder seasons: in winter, they lose their needles and look more understated. However, some details mean that they can be spotted in any season. In the lawn around them, there are strange wooden shingles. These are the tree’s aerial roots, (“pneumatophores”) that pump oxygen to the roots so they can breathe in soaked soil.
