Montezuma cypress
| Taxodium mucronatum | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Pinophyta |
| Class: | Pinopsida |
| Order: | Pinales |
| Family: | Cupressaceae |
| Genus: | Taxodium |
| Species: | T. mucronatum |
| Binomial name | |
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Taxodium mucronatum Ten. |
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| Natural range | |
| Synonyms | |
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Taxodium distichum var. mucronatum (Ten.) A.Henry |
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Taxodium distichum var. mucronatum (Ten.) A.Henry
Taxodium mexicanum Carrière
Taxodium distichum var. mexicanum (Carrière) Gordon
Cuprespinnata mexicana (Carrière) J.Nelson
Taxodium mucronatum, also known as Montezuma bald cypress,Montezuma cypress, sabino, or ahuehuete is a species of Taxodium native to much of Mexico (south to the highlands of southern Mexico), and also the Rio Grande Valley in southernmost Texas, United States as well as Huehuetenango Department in Guatemala. Ahuehuete is derived from the Nahuatl name for the tree, āhuēhuētl, which means "upright drum in water" or "old man of the water."
It is a large evergreen or semi-evergreen tree growing to 40 m (130 ft) tall and with a trunk of 1–3 m (3.3–9.8 ft) 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 (0.39–0.79 in) long and 1–2 mm (0.039–0.079 in) broad. The cones are ovoid, 1.5–2.5 cm (0.59–0.98 in) long and 1–2 cm (0.39–0.79 in) broad. Unlike bald cypress and pond cypress, Montezuma cypress rarely produces cypress knees from the roots. Trees from the Mexican highlands achieve a notable stoutness.
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 (37.5 ft). Several other specimens from 3–6 m (9.8–19.7 ft) diameter are known. The second stoutest tree in the world is the Big Baobab, an African Baobab.
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Wikipedia