I think Liriodendron tulipifera fits.

It grows commonly near or even right against bodies of water, so should do OK with a high water table.

It is fast growing, not a maple, and by all accounts, huge. Fall color is often a strong golden yellow, which will add to the reds of your Acer rubrum and the russets/orange of the Metasequoia and Taxodium.

This post was edited by hairmetal4ever on Sun, Jul 13, 14 at 15:26

I'd want a better explanation of "high water table" before I was comfy with Liriodendron. While it likes moist soils, won't tolerate much actual wet, so if any periods of standing water or actual flooding, not a great choice.

Another alternative is Nyssa sylvatica. Will tolerate wet soils and even periods of flooding without issue. Nice tree for wildlife attraction as well.

I have found pin oaks don't mind growing in wet areas of my yard.

Sycamores and tupelo are common trees in wet areas.

And if the ground is constantly flooded, trees like pecan and black walnut are often river bottom species that survive flooding.

Swamp white oak maybe?

Richard.

Nyssa sylvatica
Quercus bicolor
Quercus michauxii
Populus deltoides
Betula nigra

Wingnut trees do also like water, grow fast and gets large.

I suspect "high water table" could means something very different depending on whether the soil is clay or sand, open or compacted.

Nyssa aquatica and.....what is the weeping willow.

Concerning Liriondendron tulipfera, maybe if you pick the right tree and the right spot you can get a good yellow fall color also. My neighbor has one which is better than most.

Some oaks will tolerate down right flooding during the right season in southern missouri and illinois.

Nuttall oak is another one to consider.

Quercus michauxii Cow Oak
Quercus texana Nuttall Oak
Quercus alba White Oak

I know you already have at least species, but if only species then Metasequoia 'Ogon'.

Arktrees

I'd have a sycamore in a heartbeat. They grow in ancient groves down along our canals on the river bank. Needless to say, they've tolerated their fair share of floods. Fall does not present a great show but their stature and bark are breathtaking.

I'd second the sycamore. If your area gets anthracnose regularly on sycamores, I think the anthracnose-resistant London Plane cultivars are also tolerant of flooding, but maybe slightly less so.

Quercus Bicolor and Sycamore, already mentioned but I think would get large and impressive more so in my opinion. I have the London Plane, but Sycamore has nicer adult bark, the contrast of white and tan/ brown, in the winter you can see these trees from a distance away, through wooded areas.

Jeez, thought I had responded, thanks for all the great ideas! Plenty to work with here. Wishing there was a the blue Metasequoia, as I have several of the others incl Ogon.
Thanks again!

Let us know which one you decide to plant. I do want to commend you for not only considering, but desiring to plant one of those grand and majestic trees our children and their children's children will admire. The very large trees are not planted enough. It makes me cringe to see McMansions with tiny, little space saving trees as landscaping and you can say the same thing about those houses on five acre lots. The grand, old giants keep the scale and perspective in line.

Q.lyrata, overcup oak - would also fit the bill, though fall color is not much to shout about. But, I've seen it's hybrid offspring, Compton oak (Q.lyrataXvirginiana) exhibit good red fall color - which wouldn't necessarily be expected, based on its ancestry.

Won't be huge... but ornamental in multiple seasons...Carpinus caroliniana is nice, and was everywhere throughout the creekbottom swamp forest in my boyhood home.