Cypress Swamp on the Natchez Trace Parkway

Visitors to the Cypress Swamp pullout on the Natchez Trace Parkway can look out over a tupelo and bald cypress swamp. For those who want to get a much closer look, a short trail leads through the swamp and to a picturesque pond. For more information on this trail, see the Cypress Swamp Loop Trail web page.

Both the tupelo and bald cypress trees grow in waterlogged soil and are characterized by swollen bases, which give the trees a broader footprint needed to stabilize them in the wet soil. To tell the two apart, look at the bases. Tupelos have smooth bases while the cypress bases are rough looking. Furthermore, cypress roots stick out of the water like straws or periscopes near the base of the trees. Such roots are called cypress knees.

Tupelo tree base, front left and center rear