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All the United States Washington, D.C. D.C.'s Underground Bald Cypress Fossils

D.C.'s Underground Bald Cypress Fossils

Four bald cypress trees in Lafayette Square, across from the White House, mark the southern edge of a 100,000 year old cypress swamp.

Washington, D.C.

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Erik Moe
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Ancient swamp was likely centered at 17th and L Streets NW   erikmoe (Atlas Obscura User)
Ancient swamp was likely centered at 17th and L Streets NW   erikmoe (Atlas Obscura User)
Excavation for the Mayflower Hotel, 1922. The photo shows a fossilized stump at Connecticut Ave and DeSales St   U.S. Geological Survey
A 1950 report on the geology of DC shows the ancient bald cypress swamp, and present day trees in Lafayette Square   U.S. Geological Survey
Bald cypress at the north side of Lafayette Square, with the White House in the background   aredd777
One of two that are in the southwest corner   aredd777
One more, this one in the the southeast corner   aredd777
Look for the markers on the trees in Lafayette Square   aredd777
A bald cypress trunk and its “knees”, a structure of their complex root system   Steve Hillebrand, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Bald cypress stumps & knees, rising from a swamp in southern Illinois as they did 100,000 years ago in Washington, DC   U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Bald Cypress Fossil at Southeast Corner of Lafayette Park   blimpcaptain / Atlas Obscura User
  Runawaydc / Atlas Obscura User
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About

The area around 17th and M Streets in Northwest Washington, DC marks the northern edge of an ancient swamp, where stands of enormous bald cypress trees once lived to be 1,700 years old. Just twenty feet under the busy streets of Washington D.C., fossilized stumps of these majestic trees have been buried for millennia.

In 1922, crews excavating for construction of the Mayflower Hotel one block west on Connecticut Avenue uncovered the fossils of bald cypress stumps eight feet in diameter. The construction of other large buildings on nearby 17th Street – the Operating Engineers Building in 1955 and National Geographic's 1961 addition – turned up similar fossils. The bases of these trees are believed to have been buried during the late Pleistocene epoch (126,000 to 9700 BCE) when melting glaciers deposited tons of silt and gravel at their roots, shifting the terrain and the flow of tidal waters from the Potomac River. The bald cypress is a close relative of the California redwood, and because they are among the longest-lived plants in North America their fossilized tree rings are tremendously valuable for scientists interested in the effects of climate change. The overlapping records of their thousand-year lifespans can be compared with those found along the east coast as far south as Guatemala, helping to create a detailed understanding of climate over many millennia. 

You can still see bald cypress trees in this part of town – the very same species as the fossilized ones – planted just north of the While House in Lafayette Square. There are four of them dating to the mid-19th century, but without the mucky water around their roots they are missing the curious “knees” that are a characteristic of their natural swampy habitat. Washington is still called a swamp by some, and with such long lifespans these too may one day be rediscovered as part of our epoch's fossil record, this time mixed with the stones of the capitol buildings. 

We’ll have to come back in 100,000 years to find out.

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Parks Fossils Flora Ancient Trees Plants

Know Before You Go

There are four bald cypress trees in Lafayette Square, just north of the White House.

Since you probably can’t get an excavation permit to dig up the street, for the fossil versions check out the Geology exhibits and experts at the National Geographic Museum at 1145 17th Street, NW, or the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History on the National Mall. Fossilized trees from the Northwest DC area are part of the permanent collections at both museums.

Community Contributors

Added By

erikmoe

Edited By

ljbrown, blimpcaptain, Runawaydc

  • ljbrown
  • blimpcaptain
  • Runawaydc

Published

April 19, 2016

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Sources
  • http://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/0967/report.pdf
  • http://www.uark.edu/misc/dendro/PUBS/2012-Stahle-QSR.pdf
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxodium_distichum
  • https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/dc30.htm
D.C.'s Underground Bald Cypress Fossils
Lafayette Square
Pennsylvania Ave & Jackson Place, NW
Washington, District of Columbia
United States
38.898948, -77.037686
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