Pond cypress is a natural buffer between the bald cypress forest and the wet prairie/pine flatwood. It serves as an ecotone (an area where two different habitats meet), creating an environment where wildlife from both the wet prairie and the bald cypress forest mingle.

Pond cypress are smaller than the bald cypress that are more commonly found deeper in the swamp. Although stunted by nutrient poor soils on the edge of the prairie, these pond cypress trees are well over 100 years old.

Scientists are not in total agreement whether pond cypress and bald cypress are two distinct species. DNA testing suggests they are, but they are known to hybridize. Superficially, the pond cypress have a slightly different appearance -- the bark is more deeply ridged, the needles spiral around their stems, and they grow in much closer proximity to each other.

Understory plants include sawgrass, ferns, air plants, wax myrtle, strangler fig, and a variety of flowering plants ranging from water lilies and pickerel weed to wild iris and the bladderworts. Look at the water surface for the characteristic cypress knees.

Pond Cypress

Common Yellowthroat Blue Flag Iris Tillandsia fasciculata

River Otter Red-shouldered Hawk Cypress knees Florida Black Bear

American Bittern White-eyed Vireo Palamedes Swallowtail

Green Treefrog Night-fragrant Orchid   Contine along the boardwalk to the Bald Cypress Forest by clicking the arrow

Tour intro | Pine Flatwood | Wet Prairie | Pond Cypress | Bald Cypress Forest | Central Marsh | Lettuce Lakes | Blair Center