Taxonomy and Nomenclature of Baldcypress, Pondcypress, and Montezuma Cypress: One, Two, or Three Species?

Abstract

As interest in issues such as seed source, provenance, genetic pollution, and threatened and endangered plant species grows, so does the need for an understanding of the relatedness and evolutionary history of plants. Appropriate taxonomy and nomenclature become much more important. Taxodium (L.) Rich. is a genus of landscape trees included in many plant materials courses across the country. It has been treated variously in the horticulture literature as having one, two, or three species. The most appropriate treatment is one species with three botanical varieties: baldcypress [Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich. var. distichum], pondcypress [T. distichum var. imbricarium (Nutt.) Croom], and montezuma cypress [T. distichum var. mexicanum Gordon].