cypress swamps
Flooded southern woodlands
Cypress swamps are wetlands dominated by cypress trees—typically bald cypress or pond cypress—standing in still or slow-moving water.
Found primarily in the southeastern United States, these ecosystems feature distinctive "knees," woody projections rising from submerged roots.
The trees thrive in waterlogged conditions that would kill most species: We paddled through the cypress swamp at dawn.
- alligatorsLarge freshwater crocodilians
- Spanish mossEpiphytic Southern plant
- air plantsVegetation requiring no soil
- wetlandsWater-saturated terrain
- turtlesShell-backed reptiles
black water · pirogue · frogs · wading birds · hydrology · bayou · Cajun country · hammocks · biodiversity · seasonal flooding · snakes · sedimentation · muggy air · egrets · floodplains · herons · cattails · birdwatching
- ecosystemsrainforest, forest, desert, jungle, ocean
- Humid Southhigh humidity, hot summers, mild winters, muggy weather, sticky heat
- swampsbayou, bayous, alligators, gators, standing water
- wetlandsswamps, marsh, marshes, marshland, marshlands
- Carolina NatureOuter Banks, Blue Ridge, Cape Hatteras, Piedmont, Great Smoky Mountains
- coastal lowlandscoastal plains, lowlands, flatlands, tidewater, coastal wetlands
cypress swampsdesert
To leave behind completely
sand dunes · chaparral · mesa · badlands · rocky desert
cypress swampsurban sprawl
Uncontrolled peripheral development
industrial zone · shopping mall · concrete jungle · suburban development · parking lot