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THE MICHIGAN BOTANIST
Vol. 38
THE BIG TREES OF MICHIGAN
24. Taxodium distichum (L.) Richard
Bald Cypress
Dave Dehn and Elwood B. Ehrle
Department of Biological Sciences
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo, MI 49008
The largest known Bald Cypress in Michigan is located in the Kleinstuck Preserve in Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo County, Michigan, in the southwest portion of
the lower peninsula.
Description of the species: The Bald Cypress is a member of the family Taxodiaceae, along with the Sequoias. (Modern opinion mostly favors merging the
Taxodiaceae into the Cupressaceae, as was done in volume 2 of Flora of North
America, 1993.) The genus Taxodium is distinguished from other members of the
family by its flattened, deciduous needles (Fig. 1). The leaves are two-ranked,
and many times, entire leafy branchlets are shed as a unit. The seeds are threeangled and there are two seeds borne on the upper surface of each cone scale.
Taxodium distichum is predominantly southeastern in its distribution, but extends west to Texas and Mexico, and north as far as Maryland and Long Island,
NY, and it reaches the lower Ohio River and even grows along the Wabash River
on the Illinois-Indiana border.
The Michigan State Champion Bald Cypress was planted around 1855 by
Carl G. Kleinstuck when the area was known as Bragg's Nursery. The tree is,
therefore, about 145 years old.
Location of Michigan's Big Tree: Michigan's largest known Bald Cypress can
be found in the city of Kalamazoo. The tree can be reached by taking Maple St.
to Steamrns Ave., about 100 yards past the YMCA. Take Stearns Ave. one block
to its end at the entrance to the Kleinstuck Preserve. Follow the trail from the end
of Stearns Ave. a short distance over a hill and through a 1940s pine plantation.
Follow the trail down a clope to the circle trail that goes around the wet depression in the center of the preserve. Take the trail to the right a short distance
around the north side of the wet depression. The trail passes over a drainage
ditch about 25 yds. before the tree. The tree is easily visible, and is 3 yds. off the
south side of the trail. The map coordinates for this location are T2S, RI11W, section 28.
Description of Michigan's Big Tree: The tree has a healthy, solid trunk. One
branch emerges about 5' from the ground; under the branch there is a woodpecker hole. The circumference of the tree at breast height was measured on 12
