Named Austin’s large tree of the year in 2009, the bald cypress tree stands tall at about 100 feet and may live for hundreds of years. It one of my favorite trees at Redbud Isle, which is the perfect location for this tree because it grows best in wet, swampy soils. It is called the bald cypress because it is one of the first trees to lose its leaves in the fall and last to bud in the spring.