Taxodium sempervirens D. Don in Lambert, Descr. Pinus 2: [24]. 1824; Sequoia gigantea Endlicher (1847), not (Lindley) Decaisne (1854).

Trees to 100(-110) m, suckering from base in native range; trunk buttressed at base, slightly tapered above, to 5 (-8) m d.b.h.; bark reddish brown or cinnamon colored, 15-25 cm thick, fibrous, exfoliating in broad, dark brown plates;

crown narrow; branches slender on young trees, finally stout, borne horizontally or basal ones deflexed. Leaves bright deep green adaxially, ca. 6 mm on main branchlets, 0.8-2 cm on lateral branchlets, midvein raised abaxially. Pollen cones ovoid, 1.5-2 mm; pollen yellow-green. Seed cones very small at pollination, maturing pale reddish brown, ovoid-elliptic or ovoid, 2-3.5 × 1.2-1.5 cm; cone scales shield-shaped, apically grooved, expanded into a rhomboid disc, occasionally with central mucro. Seeds pale brown, elliptic-oblong, ca. 1.5 mm; wing as wide as seed.

Cultivated. Fujian, Guangxi, Jiangsu (Nanjing Shi), Jiangxi, Taiwan, Zhejiang (Hangzhou Shi) [native to W United States].