Cypress trees, Georgia, USA

Bald cypress trees, Georgia, USA

Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere is often marked by foliage turning brilliant shades of gold, orange and crimson, like these bald cypress trees in Georgia in the United States. Most varieties of cypress are evergreen, but bald cypresses are deciduous – their needles turn this vibrant copper colour in autumn, fall in winter, then the trees grow a new set of needles in the spring. Bald cypresses are native to the southeastern United States and flourish in the Mississippi River basin along the Gulf Coast. They’re a familiar sight in the bayous of Louisiana and also grow in the coastal plains of the mid-Atlantic. Bald cypresses thrive in wet conditions like riverbanks and swamps.

Commonly reaching well over 30 metres tall, these slow growers provide important habitat for amphibians, fish and birds, and their seeds are eaten by wild turkey, wood ducks, evening grosbeak and squirrels. Since they usually grow along water, their roots are useful for soaking up floodwater and protecting coastlines from erosion. And as it is one of the longest living trees in the world, regularly reaching up to 600 years in age, its rings can demonstrate centuries of climate data.