Metasequoia glyptostroboides seed

LATIN NAME: Metasequoia glyptostroboides

COMMON NAME: Dawn Redwood

The dawn redwood is a handsome, upright, tall, conical, deciduous conifer of the warm valleys, and its fine, soft, feathery, bright-green, needle-like leaves and its small, round, pendulous cones of the many winged seeds have made it a treasured and remarkable tree of the world. It grows as an upright, tall, conical, deciduous conifer, reaching up to thirty-five metres or more, with the upright, tapering, buttressed trunk bearing the fine, soft, feathery, bright-green, needle-like leaves that turn a fine, warm brown in the autumn, and, through the year, the small, round, pendulous cones of the many winged seeds. It is a species of the coniferous tree in the cypress family, and it is native to the warm valleys of the central China, while it is known the world over as the dawn redwood, the famous living fossil of the plant world.

The dawn redwood belongs to the cypress family, Cupressaceae, and it is a species of the upright, tall, conical, deciduous conifer, native to the warm valleys of the central China, while it is prized for its fine, stately form, and it is known as the dawn redwood. It is prized for its fine, soft, feathery, bright-green, needle-like leaves and its remarkable history.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The dawn redwood has a real and distinguished place in the research. It has been studied in the botany and the paleobotany, since the dawn redwood is one of the most remarkable trees of the world, known first from the fine fossils of the ancient world and then found alive in the warm valleys of the central China, and researchers have examined its remarkable story, its relationships and its place among the conifers, while the story of the living fossil has drawn attention in the international botanical press as one of the greatest discoveries of the plant world. The plant has also been studied in the conservation and the horticulture, since the native trees of the dawn redwood have been treasured and protected, and the tree has been planted across the world, and researchers and the gardeners have examined its growth, its form and its cultivation, while the planting of the dawn redwood in the gardens of the world has been of continuing interest, and its fine, stately form has been of value. The species has also been studied in the ecology, since it is a native of the warm valleys of the central China, and its role in the floodplain forests has been examined, while the ecology of the warm-valley trees has been of continuing interest, and its fine, soft, feathery leaves have been of interest to the botanists. For a tree of such remarkable story, the dawn redwood has a rich and continuing record of study.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

Ecologically, the dawn redwood is a generous tree of the garden. Its small, round, pendulous cones feed the seed-eating birds, and its fine, soft, feathery, bright-green crown gives a fine cover and a shelter to the birds through the seasons.

Its economic value is real. The dawn redwood is prized for its remarkable story and its fine, stately form, and its value has drawn attention in the international botanical press as one of the greatest discoveries of the plant world, while its fine, soft, feathery, stately form has made it a treasured tree of the parks and the gardens of the world. For a grower, the dawn redwood is a rewarding and remarkable tree, and for a gardener it brings a feathery-leaved, stately, cone-bearing tree to the garden. Give the seeds a cold, damp holiday first — keep them in a bag of moist sand in the fridge for a while, then sow them on the surface of pots of peaty compost and cover with only a thin layer of fine soil, stand the pots in a sheltered, bright spot and keep them just damp.

Other Names:dawn redwood
Dawn redwood is a fine, stately specimen for large landscapes such as parks or golf courses. They make excellent avenue trees. Fast growing, with a dense, feathery texture, a stand of dawn redwoods creates an effective summertime visual screen and windbreak in just a few years. Autumn colour is excellent and even the winter silhouette is very attractive with its massive, fluted trunk and strong horizontal branches. Dawn redwoods are at their best along watercourses or ponds and can even tolerate standing water.

Dawn redwood is a deciduous conifer that can get up to 50m tall with a trunk diameter exceeding 2.5m. The overall shape is pyramidal with a single straight bole. The trunk becomes strongly fluted and buttressed at the base and the bark is reddish brown and fibrous, shredding and peeling in long, thin strips. The needle-like leaves are flattened and linear, about 1.3 cm long and arranged in two opposite ranks. The needles are deciduous and even the smaller branchlets drop off in winter. In autumn, the foliage takes on a rich orange-brown or coppery colour.