Cypress domes are characterized as shallow, circular depressions that are domed-shaped due to the difference in tree height and age between the outer edge of the dome and the interior.  Soils are composed of peat, which becomes thickest towards the center of the dome.  Acidic sands lay underneath the peat and limestone underlays the sand.  The normal hydroperiod is 200 to 300 days a year with water remaining the longest towards the center.  Cypress domes are thickly forested with pond cypress, bald cypress or both.  Other typical plants include swamp tupelo, slash pine, red maple, dahoon holly, swamp bay, sweetbay, loblolly bay, pond apple, Virginia willow, fetterbush, chain fern, poison ivy, laurel greenbrier, Spanish moss, wild pine, royal fern, cinnamon fern, coastal plain willow, maidencane, orchids, wax myrtle, swamp titi, St. John's wort, sawgrass, lizard's tail, swamp primose, water hyssop, redroot, sphagnum moss, floating heart, buttonbush, arum, and fire flag (Florida Natural Areas Inventory, 1990).

Fire is critical to the maintenance of a cypress dome community.  With such a long hydroperiod, fire usually doesn't enter the interior of the dome but every 100 to 150 years.  Fire frequents the periphery of the dome as occasionally as every 3 to 5 years.  The outer edge needs these periodic fires to reduce hardwood invasion and peat accumulation.  Without fire, this community would succeed into bottomland forest or bog.  Along with soils, fire also effects the height of the trees in a cypress dome.  The infrequency of fires towards the interior of the dome allows the trees to grow taller than those along the periphery which are occasionally killed.  Cypress trees are very tolerant of light surface fires, but muck fires burning into the peat under drought conditions can kill them.  Muck fires would also lower the ground surface which would convert the cypress dome into a pond (Florida Natural Areas Inventory, 1990).