Cypress trees are ground in depressions where the hydroperiod usually is longer than in the surrounding marsh. Two species of cypress -- bald cypress and pond cypress -- occur in the Everglades, but in very limited areas. Cypress can be found in limited numbers in the Loxahatchee National Wildlife refuge and further south in Everglades National Park near the pinelands, east of the Shark River Slough and into the Taylor Slough.

Cypress trees grow best in deeper pockets of marsh or slough, where they form dense cypress heads, composed almost entirely of cypress; within these heads, growth conditions are better towards the center. If the area is large enough (several acres or more), cypress heads form a very distinctive dome shape and are called cypress domes, with progressively taller tress toward the center.

Cypress trees have developed an important adaptation to the hydric or water logged soils in which they are rooted. The roots of cypress tress produce growths that protrude above the soil and water and function as mechanisms for gas exchange with the atmosphere. Such adaptations are also seen further south in the mangrove forest.

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