墨西哥落羽杉 mo xi ge luo yu shan

Taxodium distichum (Linnaeus) Richard var. mexicanum (Carriere) Gordon; T. distichum var. mucronatum (Tenore) A. Henry; T. mexicanum Carriere.

Trees deciduous in cooler areas or semievergreen in warmer areas, to 50 m tall; trunk swollen at base, strongly tapered, to 4 m d.b.h.; bark peeling off in long strips; crown broadly conical; main branches spreading horizontally; branchlets pendulous on mature trees, lateral ones spirally arranged. Leaves spirally arranged and scattered on annual branchlets, borne at 25-45° to axis, 0.6-0.7 mm apart, forming an elliptic branchlet outline 4-10 × 0.7-1.4 cm, linear, distally tapered, flat, 7-11 × 0.8-1 mm, soft and thin, midvein 0.15-0.25 mm wide, stomatal bands of 4 or 5 well-separated lines, marginal bands 0.2-0.3 mm wide, apex mucronate. Pollen cones borne in long, slender, lax, spikelike panicles (5-)13-25 cm, almost sessile, ovoid. Seed cones glaucous, ovoid, 1.5-2.5 cm.

Used for afforestation on marshy soils in subtropical areas. Hubei (Wuhan Shi), Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Zhejiang [native to Guatemala, Mexico, S United States]

The wood has similar uses to that of Taxodium distichum.

Used for afforestation on marshy soils in subtropical areas.