DAY 71 (15 JUNE) – Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) (Farnham, England)
Found this interesting tree on the banks of the river Wey just as the sun peeped out between showers. Its pleasing shape caught my eye first. Then its wispy coniferous leaves and colourful bark.
A plaque at the bottom declares it was a gift from American visitors from New Jersey in honour of the Queen’s Jubilee in 1977. And sure enough, it’s a bald cypress – apparently iconic for residents of the south-eastern US. My research says the genus taxodium was widespread in both America and Europe pre-Ice Age (presumably someone knows that…), but later became extinct in Europe. So how nice that we have a rare example right here.
