Weeping Pond Cypress is a deciduous conifer native to the southeastern USA where it can reach up to 100 feet in height. Adapted to high water tables, the branches are upright with pendulous lateral branches and leaves. Green leaflets in spring change to a russet-gold color in fall. It prefers acidic soils but with care can be grown in the alkaline heavy clays of the Chicago region. Given it's native range winter temperature equivalent to USDA zone 7, it is another example of woody vegetation that only survived in the refugia of the south during the Ice Ages that swept North America.