Economic importance of Taxodium mucronatum

Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Cupressaceae
Genus: Taxodium
Species: T. mucronatum
Common name:  Mexican marsh- cypress, Montezuma marsh cypress
Origin: Mexico

 Description:  It is a large evergreen or semi-evergreen tree. The leaves are spirally arranged but twisted at the base to lie in two horizontal ranks. Leaves are alternate, simple, lanceolate, linear. The pale green, needle-like leaves are only deciduous in the colder sections of its range, remaining evergreen elsewhere. The cones are ovoid.

Economic Importance:

• Wood used for purposes where resistance to decay is more important than strength, such as planks, furniture, railway ties, fence posts, and general construction work. Wood is durable in contact with soil and other conditions favourable to decay. Also used for cooperage, piling, shingles, ships, and boats, coffins, sash, doors, and fence posts, caskets and general milling work.

• Maybe used for sulphate pulp suitable for writing and printing papers. Bark, leaves and roots astringent, used in diarrhoea and bronchial troubles. Acrid resin used on wounds and ulcers.