# @nationalparkservice on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DFYhEZCvPxB
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/26294206-nationalparkservice-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/d3e8b19f34.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-01-28T20:42:24.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** National Park Service (@nationalparkservice) — https://gondola.cc/nationalparkservice

## Caption

What am I looking at?

A. Winter gathering of swamp gnomes
B. Cypress knees at Big Thicket
C. Nature’s stumpy candles
D. Contractually trapped souls in Ursula’s garden

If you said cypress knees, you’re so smart. Gnomes? Close second. So, cypress trees have knees, huh? Talk about the bee’s knees. Sorry, cypress knees. These unique structures form above the roots of a cypress tree often found in a swampy environment. You never see just one. In fact, they always seem to have compa-knee. 🐑🥁🐍

If you didn’t like that one, you must be a swamp gnome. Boo. 

Focus. What’s the purpose of cypress knees? Good question. Lots have asked. Answers are all over the place. Some believe they help aerate a tree’s roots. Others say they create a barrier to catch sediment and reduce erosion, while others say they assist in anchoring the tree in the soft and muddy soil of the swampy terrain they call home. Maybe they do all three. 

Finally, are they usually covered in snow or rocking frosted tips? Only in the late ‘90s and early 2000s. Oops, we meant not often, but recent cold weather this month brought snow and ice to bigthicketnps, turning the usually warm and humid terrain into a winter wonderland.

Image: Snow-covered cypress knees bigthicketnps. NPS/Savannah Peterson and Scott Sharaga

#bigthicket #texas #winter #nature

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 49,356
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 329

## Credits

| Name | Username | Profile | Role |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| National Park Service | @nationalparkservice | https://gondola.cc/nationalparkservice | Government Organization |

## Tags

nature, texas, bigthicket, winter

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