The cypress-tupelo swamps bordering the rivers of southeastern Virginia contain some of the largest and most impressive trees found anywhere in the eastern United States. Although normally separated from a river, much of the land is flooded year round with the water standing up to several feet deep. In Virginia, bald cypress and water tupelo are often found together in these deepwater swamps and have developed a variety of adaptations for surviving flooded conditions.
Water tupelo produces very wide, buttressed lower trunks for stability in the standing water.
Regular flooding of the swamp produces oxygen-poor soils and drives the subsequent complex processes that are used to extract and circulate nutrients and oxygen within the community. Distribution Bald cypress-water tupelo swamps are most common in the southeastern coastal plain where extensive river systems and flat topography combine to create prolonged flooding. In Virginia, large, undisturbed tracts of bald cypress-water tupelo swamps are rare and occur mainly in the southeastern part of the state where bald cypress approaches its northern range limit. Other southeastern rivers supporting this type of vegetation include the Nottoway and Meherrin Rivers, and Fontaine Creek. Flora and Fauna Bald cypress and water tupelo trees grow to over 150 feet tall with a trunk diameter of six feet.