Taxodium mucronatum
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
| Taxodium mucronatum Conservation status: Data deficient | ||||||||||||||
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| Taxodium mucronatum, "El Árbol del Tule" in Santa María del Tule, Oaxaca, Mexico | ||||||||||||||
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| Taxodium mucronatum Tenore |
Taxodium mucronatum, also known as Montezuma Cypress or Ahuehuete (in the Nahuatl language), is a species of Taxodium native to much of Mexico (south to the highlands of southern Mexico), and also southernmost Texas, USA (just entering the state in the lower Rio Grande valley). It is a large evergreen or semi-evergreen tree growing to 40 m tall and with a trunk of 1-3 m diameter (occasionally much more; see below). The leaves are spirally arranged but twisted at the base to lie in two horizontal ranks, 1-2 cm long and 1-2 mm broad. The cones are ovoid, 1.5-2.5 cm long and 1-2 cm broad.
Montezuma Cypress is primarily a riparian tree, growing along upland riversides, not in swamps or lakes. Unlike Bald Cypress and Pond Cypress, Montezuma Cypress does not produce cypress knees from the roots.
One specimen, the Árbol del Tule in Santa María del Tule, Oaxaca, Mexico, is the stoutest tree in the world with a diameter of 11.42 m. Several other specimens from 3-6 m diameter are known.
