Common throughout the southeastern United States, the cypress tree (Taxodium spp.) is a deciduous conifer that can survive in standing water. In the Florida Everglades these trees are often found growing in one of three distinct formations.

Where the limestone substrate has given way to circular solution holes, it is common to find a cluster of cypress trees growing in the shape of a dome, with larger trees in the middle and smaller trees all around. Cypress strands occur where the cypress trees grow in an elongate, linear shape, parallel with the flow of water. In areas of less-favorable growing conditions, stunted cypress trees, called dwarf cypress, grow thinly distributed in poor soil on drier land.