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Reclaimed bald cypress (aka tidewater red or swamp cypress) is primarily sourced from wooden vinegar tanks, and, like other tank woods, utilize the highest grade of old growth heartwood. The tree often grows in wet terrain, developing an extraordinary dense grain pattern. The beauty and rarity of it’s figure is often reserved for applications like feature walls and cabinetry, but its exterior performance qualities are also appreciated.
Application
PanelingThickness
1/2", 3/4"Widths
3"-12"Lengths
3"-11"Color and Surface
Tank cypress is imbued with light yellowish-brown peach-tones, with an exceptional grain density, resulting from its slow growth – among the slowest on earth – in swamp conditions. Straight grain figure with dramatic cathedral forms. Cypress, with it’s clear figure and dense grain, was among the signature woods used by Frank Lloyd Wright in his mid-Century projects.
Nature and Culture
Growing in Southern swamps, the tree evolved with chemistries like cypressene oil, a natural preservative the color of golden honey. The large tree with unusual “cypress knees” and small dark cones grows incredibly slowly, and up to one thousand years. Cypress loggers, living on house rafts, fended off mosquito-borne disease, deadly snakes and alligators as they felled the trees from small dinghies – hearing the last calls of the fabled ivory-billed woodpecker.
https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/familys-frank-lloyd-wright-house-wisconsin
