Under greenhouse conditions, seedlings of three forest species, baldcypress (Taxodium distichum), nuttall oak (Quercus nuttallii), and swamp chestnut oak (Quercus michauxii) were subjected to an intermittent flooding and subsequent physiological and growth responses to such conditions were evaluated. Baldcypress showed no significant reductions in stomatal conductance (gs) or net photosynthetic rate (PN) in response to flood pulses. In nuttall oak seedlings gs and PN were significantly decreased during periods of inundation, but recovered rapidly following drainage. In contrast, in swamp chestnut oak gs was reduced by 71.8 % while PN was reduced by 57.2 % compared to controls. Baldcypress displayed no significant changes in total mass while oak species had significantly lower leaf and total mass compared to their respective controls. Thus baldcypress and nuttall oak showed superior performance under frequent intermittent flooding regimes due to several factors including the ability for rapid recovery of gas exchange soon after soil was drained. In contrast, swamp chestnut oak seedlings failed to resume gas exchange functions after the removal of flooding. and P. H. Anderson, S. R. Pezeshki.