Colourful bald cypress, Xuancheng, Anhui, China 4 Nov 2026

Colourful bald cypress, Xuancheng, Anhui, China

People paddle through a glowing maze of bald cypress in Xuancheng, Anhui, where autumn transforms flooded woodlands into a tapestry of amber, copper and deep rust. Known scientifically as "Taxodium distichum", bald cypress is unusual among conifers because it sheds its soft, feathery needles each fall, turning reddish-brown before they drop.

© Jackal Pan/Getty Images

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