Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
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Saturday - June 23, 2012
From: San Antonio, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Drought Tolerant, Trees
Title: Montezuma cypress trees for San Antonio
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
Are Montezuma cypress trees good drought tolerant trees for your yard? I live 30 miles south of San Antonio; would this tree be good for this area?ANSWER:
According to this USDA Plant Profile Map, this tree is native only to the extreme southern point of Texas, and grows natively farther down in Mexico and Central America.
Follow this plant link Taxodium mucronatum (Montezuma bald cypress) to our webpage on the plant, and you will learn that it is considered an aquatic plant; that is, can survive at a waterside or in an area that is periodically flooded. It is evergreen but it can lose its needles or even be damaged if there is a severe cold snap. That webpage also specifies high water use, which would be expected of an aquatic tree. So, while we think the climate would be suitable in terms of temperature, we don't see it as a drought-tolerant tree.
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