Cypress Nature Park

04/15/2022

12/24/2021

Cancelled Performances: Cinderella and A Christmas Carol
Dear Patron —

An outbreak of COVID-19 among cast and crew has forced us to cancel the following performances of A Christmas Carol and Cinderella:

Thursday, December 23, 7 p.m.
Friday, December 24, 2 p.m.
Sunday, December 26, 2 p.m.
Unfortunately, this means there will be no further performances for A Christmas Carol. Cinderella will resume performances beginning Tuesday, December 28.

We apologize for this disappointing inconvenience. We can move your tickets to any other scheduled performance on our calendar, and if we can’t give you the same seats, we will find comparable seating for your party.

To reschedule your performance, please contact the ASF Box Office at 334-271-5353 or [email protected]. The Box Office will be open tomorrow, December 24, from noon to 3 p.m., and will reopen for normal hours on Sunday, December 26. To expedite the change to your order, email the box office today with your preferred performance date and time.

For your convenience, you can review alternate performance dates on the performance schedule.

Kind regards —

The ASF Box Office Team

COVID POLICY FOR PATRONS

03/22/2020

The swamp is not holding water as it has in the past. We are simply draining into the canal at a more rapid rate and not holding the water in the swamp. We are at least six to a eight inches low while we have had enough rainfall to have us near full pool.

I found only one Southern Blue Flag Iris in bloom but many more ready to pop. There was a large Hawthorn in bloom. We are still early, but plants, shrubs and trees are beginning to green rapidly.

03/22/2020

Late last fall I found small, delicate fern growing on the banks of one of the ravines which is called a Blunt-lobed Cliff Fern ( Woodsia obtusa). The fern is frequent in highland provinces of Alabama (above the Fall Line) where it grow mostly in rocky areas. It is rare and widely scattered in the coastal plain area of the state. The lobes on the leaflets are rounded and the edges are scalloped giving the fern a lacy appearance.

The second fern is not new. I first found it in 2013 but was always unsure of its identification. Recently, I found a specimen with a fertile frond and sent pictures of it and the Blunt-lobed Cliff Fern to Dr. Alvin Diamond at Troy University for identification. He confirmed that it was a Sparse-lobed Grape Fern (Botrychium biternatum). A single, sterile, green leaf emerges in the late summer and will persist over winter. The fertile segment emerges from the common stalk and rises above the sterile leaf. We are fortunate to have good number of these ferns in one small area of the park.

03/21/2020

Florida Anise (Illicium floridanum) blooming in the seeps. We have an abundance of this shrub growing near the major seeps. It likes the shade and the coolness of the flowing water. It has an interesting distribution map. There is a gap in the distribution and the northern portion lies along the fall line in Alabama.

03/20/2020

Up until recently, we had found only one Orchid in the park, Fragrant Ladies Tresses (Spiranthes odorata). In February while out looking for salamanders, we found the Cranefly Orchid (Tipularia discolor). Last week while checking on some Grape Ferns in an area just below Chambless Pond we found the Southern Twayblade (Listera australis). So if you want to find new Orchids, it helps to be looking for something else.

10/13/2019

Common Green Darner (male) - The lime green and light blue coloration make this dragonfly one of my favorites. It is one of the most common dragonflies in the state. It is also one of the few dragonfly species that migrates. This one happened to land in a shrub along the canal at the west end of the swamp. A feature common to all Darner Dragonflies, is that when perched they always hang or perch vertically.

10/04/2019

Green Heron (immature) along the canal at the east end of the swamp. Beginning to get more fall migrant birds coming through on their annual trip south.

08/17/2019

Yesterday I came across the newest engineering efforts of the beaver out at the swamp. What I found was ditch they had dug, about 40 yards long which ran perpendicular to the canal at the west end of the swamp. The ditch is not connected to the canal but runs right up to the edge of its bank and stops. I suspect they were using it to bring trees and limbs to the canal which they use to dam the canal in an attempt to keep the swamp full with water. It was a lot of effort on their part and I am sure that once the swamp is at full pool that I will forget that it is there and step into it and fill my waders up.

08/17/2019

We continue to have some wet spots in the swamp. Despite the heat and lack of rain we have not gone completely dry this year. High temperatures makes for higher transpiration rates in the trees (water vaporizing from the leaves). With the density of the Tupelos, they are taking up a lot of water. The high humidity we have helps to reduce the transpiration rate but the high heat and lack of rain is causing the Tupelos to begin to loose some of their leaves early which is reducing the transpiration rate which allows more moisture to remain in the swamp.