First Class Skills - Bald Cypress Traditional Cache

This cache is part of a series of caches intended to assist Boy Scouts with gaining the skills and knowledge they need to earn the Tenderfoot, Second Class and First Class ranks.  It will also introduce non-Scouters to what Boy Scouts need to master as part of the Boy Scout program.  As part of earning the First Class rank, Scouts need to identify at least 10 kinds of native plants and trees in their community.  This is one….

DO NOT PARK ALONG THE DRIVE OR IN THE ER PARKING LOT!!! Please use the posted parking coordinates. This drive is the primary route used by ambulances approaching and departing the hospital’s ER entrance. Ignoring this request may result in the archiving of this and two other caches in this series.

The Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) is a member of the cypress family. It is also known as Swamp Cypress, Red Cypress or Gulf Cypress.

Bald Cypress is a large, slow-growing tree that can be VERY long-lived (1,600 years or more). They grow 100-120 feet high and TYPICALLY 3-6 feet in diameter, but are capable of growing to over 17 feet in diameter. One tree in Mexico has the world's largest recorded trunk diameter – 35 ½ feet!

Bald Cypress is native to the coastal areas along the Gulf of Mexico and the eastern seaboard north to Virginia. It isn’t native to Indiana, but you will see it used as an ornamental in many location throughout town and local parks.

Bald Cypress is a deciduous conifer – not evergreen as are most conifers. Its needles are soft, broad, and flat. They grow in an alternate pattern on the branch and would be considered a compound leaf if it were a traditional broad-leafed tree.

Bald Cypress cones are roundish in shape. The seeds require water-saturated soil for 1-3 months after seedfall in order to germinate.

The bark is thin and fibrous with an interwoven pattern of furrows and ridges. It looks very similar to the bark of Eastern Red Cedar (another member of the cypress family).

When growing in its native swampy areas, Bald Cypress typically has a heavily buttressed or fluted base to its trunk. The Cypresses you’ll see around here have a much less heavily developed trunk base. Besides its use as an ornamental, Bald Cypress is commonly used for erosion control. The roots of the tree help trap sediments and pollutants and keep them from being swept away by flood waters. Cypress wood is also used extensively in construction, planking for boats & decks/piers, caskets, cabinetry, and shingles.

Thanks go to Ray Ingham, CEO of Witham Health Services, for permission to place this cache.

You are searching for a camo’d waterproof matchstick container. Bring your own pencil.