Cypress Swamp

Cypress Swamp, at milepost 122.0 of the Natchez Trace Parkway in Madison County, is a stand of water tupelo and bald cypress growing in an abandoned channel of the Pearl River. According to the National Park Service the river once flowed through the site and then changed course, and as it retreated it left sediment behind that built up a shallow basin. In spells of low water, seedlings of the two flood-tolerant trees took hold, and the swamp grew from them. A stairway and boardwalk lead to a trail of about 2,000 feet through it, and the Park Service lists it among the parkway's must-see stops in Mississippi.

Bald cypress seed will not germinate under water, the Forest Service notes; it needs soil that is saturated but not flooded for one to three months after the seed falls, and the seedlings must then grow fast enough to keep part of their crowns above the floodwater for most of the growing season, since prolonged submergence kills them. Water tupelo seed likewise waits for the water to recede, but once a seedling's top is clear it can survive flooding that lasts the whole season. Rooted while the swamp is nearly dry, the seedlings can then live through water deep enough to kill other plants, and grown trees of both species stand in deep water for long periods. Older swamp cypress raise the conical roots called knees.

The arrangement is temporary. The Park Service expects the old channel to keep filling with silt and vegetation, and black willow, sycamore, red maple and other trees to replace the cypress and tupelo. Young alligators are seen sunning on floating logs. Across the parkway is a trailhead for the Yockanookany Section of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail.