This beautiful variety has a broad, spreading crown, strong horizontal branches with delicate weeping branchlets; a large trunk and odd knee-like protrusions at the base when grown in standing water; evergreen in frost free areas. Montezuma bald cypress (Taxodium mucronatum) is a tree with soft green needles that grows from 23 to 24 m tall. In warm climates, it is evergreen but in cold climates it will be partially or fully deciduous. It is a graceful, slender tree with a thick base and tan bark that peels in strips. It needs regular moisture and is commonly found growing beside ponds, lakes and rivers. Montezuma can grow up to 80 feet tall naturally, or can be made into beautiful bonsai specimens.
Grows in full sun to partial shade, with moderate to high watering.
Zones 8-11
Montezuma Cypress Germination:
1) Scarify seeds by soaking in ethyl alcohol for 5 mins. Rinse seeds well afterwards and soak in water for 24 hours.
2) Cold stratify by placing seeds in a zip lock bag filled with most peat moss or vermiculite for 90 days. Periodically check to ensure they stay slightly moist but never wet.
3) Plant 1/4" deep in rich and moist potting soil, keeping really most at all times.
4) Use a heated propagator mat to keep the temperature at 78 degrees F.