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I've never seen a bald cypress that had a tree fork but oak trees have them all the time.

Any ideas as to why this is?

Bald Cypresses are usually found in very wet areas whereas oak trees tend to be found in more comparatively arid areas so maybe having lots of tree forks and a very wide crown helps catch precipitation in the leaves so that it might fall at a more controlled pace onto the soil below and be less likely to run off, away from the trees root system?

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    $\begingroup$ All conifers tend to have a primary leader , less pronounced in other trees . Although no rules- eg. pin oak will tend to be pyramidal with a primary leader. $\endgroup$
    – blacksmith37
    Commented Aug 30, 2021 at 20:21

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There are apparently growth "rules" imbedded in the genome. These determine branching patterns, among other things. These rules can be quite simple, yet give rise to complex morphology.

You might look at L-systems, which are rules (or perhaps one might regard them as programs) that can be used to reproduce the growth patterns of plants on a computer. The classic work, I think, is "The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants" by Prusinkiewicz et. al. It can easily be found as a free pdf.

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