Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) in numbers: hardness, weight, strength, shrinkage, movement and decay resistance, taken from the tables of the USDA Forest Products Laboratory’s Wood Handbook, followed by what the wood is like to work and what it is used for. The values are averages from small, clear, straight-grained test specimens; real boards with knots, sloping grain or a different moisture content will differ.
| Property | Baldcypress |
|---|---|
| Janka side hardness, 12% moisture | 510 lbf (2,269 N) |
| Janka side hardness, green | 390 lbf |
| Hardness rank | harder than 33 of the 168 woods with a 12% hardness value in our database |
| Density at 12% moisture | 32.2 lb/ft³ (515 kg/m³) |
| Weight per board foot (12%) | 2.68 lb |
| Specific gravity (ovendry weight, green volume) | 0.42 |
| Specific gravity at 12% moisture | 0.46 |
| Bending strength (modulus of rupture), 12% | 10,600 psi |
| Stiffness (modulus of elasticity), 12% | 1.44 million psi |
| Crushing strength (compression parallel to grain), 12% | 6,360 psi |
| Shrinkage green to ovendry: radial / tangential / volumetric | not reported |
| Tangential / radial shrinkage ratio | — |
| Dimensional change per 1% moisture (radial / tangential) | 0.0013 / 0.00216 |
| Impact bending (drop height to failure), 12% | 24 in. |
| Heartwood decay resistance | resistant (old growth); moderately resistant (young growth) |
What it is
Baldcypress or cypress (Taxodium distichum) is also known as southern-cypress, red-cypress, yellow-cypress and white-cypress, and in the trade the terms tidewater red-cypress, gulf-cypress, red-cypress (coast type) and yellow-cypress (inland type) are common. About half of cypress lumber comes from the Southern States and about a fourth from the South Atlantic States. Old-growth baldcypress is difficult to find, but second-growth wood is available.
The sapwood is narrow and nearly white. The heartwood varies widely in color, from light yellowish brown to dark brownish red, brown or chocolate. Some trees contain pockets or localized areas attacked by a fungus, and this wood is known as pecky cypress. The decay stops once the wood is cut into lumber and dried, so pecky cypress is durable and is used where water tightness is unnecessary, appearance is not important or a novel effect is wanted.
Working properties
Baldcypress is moderately heavy, moderately strong and moderately hard. Its shrinkage is moderately low, somewhat higher than that of the cedars and lower than that of Southern Pine. The Handbook’s shrinkage table has no row for it, but its dimensional change coefficient puts the change in width of a flatsawn board at about 0.216% for each 1% change in moisture content. Durability depends on the tree: old-growth heartwood is one of the most decay resistant of US species, while second-growth wood is only moderately resistant.
Weight and density
At 12% moisture content baldcypress weighs about 32.2 lb per cubic foot, so one board foot (144 cubic inches) weighs about 2.68 lb. An 8 ft board of actual size 3/4 × 5-1/2 in. (a 1×6) holds 0.229 cubic feet and weighs about 7.4 lb; an 8 ft piece 1-1/2 × 3-1/2 in. (a 2×4 size) weighs about 9.4 lb. Green wood is much heavier because of the water it holds.
Density here is ovendry weight plus 12% water, divided by volume at 12% moisture content (Wood Handbook Eq. 4-12: density = specific gravity at 12% × 62.43 lb/ft³ × 1.12).
Wood movement
The Wood Handbook gives dimensional change coefficients for each species: the fraction of its width a board gains or loses for every 1% change in moisture content, between about 6% and 14%. For baldcypress they are 0.00216 across a flatsawn face (tangential) and 0.0013 across a quartersawn face (radial).
Worked example: a flatsawn board 7-1/4 in. wide (a nominal 1×8) that goes from 6% moisture content in a heated winter house to 12% in a humid summer changes width by 7.25 × 0.00216 × 6 = 0.094 in. (about 3/32 in.). The same board quartersawn moves 0.057 in. (about 1/16 in.). Allow for this in panels, tabletops and floors; the wood movement calculator works it out for any size and moisture range.
How it compares
| Species | Janka (lbf) | Density (lb/ft³) | Bending (psi) | Stiffness (Mpsi) | Tangential shrink (%) | Decay resistance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baldcypress | 510 | 32.2 | 10,600 | 1.44 | — | resistant (old growth); moderately resistant (young growth) |
| Redwood (old-growth) | 480 | 28.0 | 10,000 | 1.34 | 4.4 | resistant |
| Western redcedar | 350 | 22.4 | 7,500 | 1.11 | 5.0 | resistant |
| Loblolly pine | 690 | 35.7 | 12,800 | 1.79 | 7.4 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Douglas-fir (Coast) | 710 | 33.6 | 12,400 | 1.95 | 7.6 | moderately resistant |
| White oak | 1,360 | 47.5 | 15,200 | 1.78 | 10.5 | resistant |
Uses
When old-growth wood was available, baldcypress was used mainly for building construction where decay resistance was needed, and for caskets, sashes, doors, blinds, tanks, vats, ship and boat building and cooling towers. Second-growth wood is used for siding and millwork, including interior woodwork and paneling. Pecky cypress is used for paneling in restaurants, stores and other buildings.
Frequently asked questions
Is cypress rot resistant?
It depends on the wood. Table 14-1 of the Wood Handbook rates old-growth baldcypress heartwood resistant, and the species description calls it one of the most decay resistant of US species. Second-growth heartwood, which is what is mostly available now, is only moderately resistant, and the sapwood is not durable.
How hard is cypress?
Baldcypress averages 510 lbf (2,269 N) on the Janka test at 12% moisture content, softer than coast Douglas-fir (710 lbf) and loblolly pine (690 lbf).
What is pecky cypress?
Baldcypress that contains pockets or localized areas attacked by a fungus. The decay stops when the wood is cut and dried, so the Handbook describes pecky cypress as durable; it is used for paneling and where appearance or water tightness does not matter or a novel effect is wanted.
How much does cypress weigh?
About 32.2 lb per cubic foot at 12% moisture content, or 2.68 lb per board foot.
Sources
- USDA Forest Products Laboratory. Wood Handbook: Wood as an Engineering Material. General Technical Report FPL-GTR-190, 2010. Chapter 2 (species descriptions), Chapter 4 (Tables 4-3, 4-4 shrinkage; Eq. 4-7, 4-9, 4-12 density), Chapter 5 (Tables 5-3b, 5-5b strength and hardness), Chapter 13 (Table 13-5 dimensional change coefficients), Chapter 14 (Table 14-1 decay resistance)
- USDA Forest Products Laboratory. Wood Handbook, 2021 edition (FPL-GTR-282)
Last reviewed: 24 October 2026. Numbers are generated from our parsed copy of the Handbook tables, so every page uses the same data. Values marked * are estimates computed with the Handbook’s own equations. Spotted an error? Please let us know.