BK Cypress of Southeast Tennessee

Where would you think any wood species would have the most trouble surviving??  The answer is a place where moisture is constant through direct contact or high humidity, conditions right for rot and decay, mold and fungus.  Warm steamy temperatures add to the problem, as well as insects which look as if they originated in a horror film.  If a wood species can learn to adapt in this "worst-case scenario" it could be used any where in the world to build homes, right?. Tidewater Red Cypress has learned to develop natural protection over thousands of years to insure its ability to thrive in this hostile environment for wood.  It's naturally occurring "protection" is called "Cypressene", an oil based substance present in the highest concentrations in Tidewater Red Cypress.  It grows mainly down through the Southeast United States in the coastal regions and swamps.  Being slow growing it is a dense wood species with growth rings tightly compacted.  This is why there is little movement or settlement –it has no where to go.  There are inland varieties of cypress, yellow and white, sometimes called pond or bald cypress.  Faster growing, they lack the cypressene concentration to give the same moisture, decay and insect resistance

FACTS ABOUT CYPRESS:  

• They are conifers, softwoods, but deciduous, in that they shed foliage in the fall like hardwoods

• Even as softwoods they are grouped and manufactured with hardwoods since they grow alongside them

• Because of water tightness, it is commonly used for:  shingles, cooperage, in tanks, vats, ships & boats

•  Durability ratings are outstanding even in conditions favorable to decay

•  More uses:  posts, beams, decks, docking, flooring, greenhouses, siding, stadium seats, and caskets

•  "Pecky" cypress grouped as an ornamental wood; it's caused by a fungus but its origin is unknown

•  Colors vary, thought to be determined by individual growth area, light to darker versions of yellow to red

•  The SCMA (S.Cypress Mfg. Assn.), says," Cypress is in abundant supply, its' growth is greater than removal."

•  Unpainted, will last for hundreds of years—does not usually check or warp

•  In Hilton Head, SC. It's specified in building codes for its durable nature, architects like the distinctive look

•  Little study has been done on its anti-allergenic qualities, but is widely noted throughout the Southeast .