Conestoga House is one of only two places in Lancaster County known to have Bald Cypress trees with the famous “knees” (the other being on Trail Road in Elizabethtown; see separate entry). Bald cypress that grow in ponds or swamps (like these two Conestoga specimens) often develop woody projections extending from the root system to above the water. Such structures were once thought to provide oxygen to the tree’s roots but evidence makes this questionable and the knees are not well understood.
This amazing species, the state tree of Louisiana, produces wood that is not only odorless but highly resistant to water and is thus called “water eternal.” Even prehistoric cypress wood found in swamps is still usable.
