The bald cypress is a long-lived, pyramidal, deciduous conifer, and a cone-bearing tree that grows 50 to 70 feet tall and 20 to 30 feet wide. Old trees develop a wide, spreading base that narrows up the trunk with diameters as thick as 3 to 6 feet. A younger tree typically has a pyramidal habit; however, older specimens have an irregular flat top. It is one of the longest living trees in the world and its rings hold years of climate data. Although it looks like a needled evergreen in summer, it is deciduous or "bald" as the common name suggests. It is native to southern swamps, bayous, and rivers, primarily being found in coastal areas from Maryland to Texas and in the lower Mississippi River valley to as far north as the southeast corner of Missouri. In the deep South, it is a familiar sight growing directly in swampy water, often in large stands, with its branches heavily draped with Spanish moss. In cultivation, however, it grows very well in drier, upland soils.