Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum)

This tree is the Queen of the Swamp! Knees are the noted feature that allow the genus Taxodium to thrive in standing year-round water. These porous appendages connect to the roots and allow for aerobic respiration. The tallest knees grow off specimen around Cedar Lake in Section 21 but the state champ is across the road in Section 20 near the Fleischmann Mausoleum. They seem to get confused with Dawn Redwood but looking at the leaf and bud arrangement shows that they are alternately set on Baldcypress and oppositely set on the former. Baldcypress grow along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and up the Mississippi Valley into Indiana. The deep sinus fissures complicate the circumferential measurement but its recorded at 212-inches. The height measured 113-feet with a crown spread of 61-feet and a total of 340-points.