Adress
Jean Monnet Park
Berchem-Sainte-Agathe / Sint-Agatha- Berchem
GPS coordinates :
50.8685
, 4.2888
Scientific inventory
Identity
Category :
Arbre remarquable
Latin name :
Taxodium distichum
French name :
Cyprès chauve
Dutch name :
Moerascipres
English name :
Bald cypress
Family :
Taxaceae
Height :
19 m
Targeted height :
This species can grow up to 35–45 m
Diameter of the crown :
6 m
Trunk circumference :
220 cm
Expected circumference :
500 cm
Expected longevity :
Can live for more than 1200 years, perhaps up to 3000 years in its area of origin
Origin / Indigenous
South-eastern USA
Favorite soil :
Likes damp soils
Favorite climate
Temperate, warm (and preferably damp), but adapts to cool temperate climates
Usefulness and services of the tree :
Enhances the landscape :
+++
Enhances the biodiversity :
++
Provide oxygen :
++
Purify the air :
++
Filter the water :
+++
Prevents flooding :
+++
Stores carbon :
++
Softens the climate :
++
Limits soil erosion :
+++
Does good, heals :
-
Collection of the Belgian Federal State on permanent loan to the Meise Botanical Garden: Mouillefert, Traité des arbres et arbrissaux, Atlas, pl. 32bis, 1892-1898
Features and characters of the individual
Strange location for a water-loving tree! Typical would be if it were between two ponds, but this tree grows on a strip of land that separates two car parks, wedged between two tower blocks. Everything around seems dry. And it has not developed the species’ characteristic pneumatophore aerial roots. This bald cypress was planted in a former wetland. It seems to be doing well though, despite the urban pressure. There must be a refreshment bar somewhere nearby! A willow and an band of poplars are growing in the same corner too. Have their roots found happiness in a water table just below the ground? Or perhaps there is a tank collecting rainwater from the car parks and neighbouring roofs?
