Dawn Redwood is a true ‘living fossil’ and ‘Lazarus taxon’, thought extinct and known only from fossils until found living. In 1941 Japanese palaeobotanist Shigeru Miki (1901-1974) named the fossil genus Metasequoia (‘transformed sequoia’). Living trees were soon found in China: Wang Zhan (1911-2000) collected specimens in 1943, initially mistaking it for Chinese Swamp Cypress, and Hu Xiansu (1894-1968) linked them to fossils, publishing in 1948.
Hubei province in central China. Found in sheltered ravines and on the banks of watercourses.
Monoecious, deciduous conifer. Rarely flowers in north-west Europe, but elsewhere in cultivation, slow to produce cones (at least 25 years).
Grows to 30m (50m in China), nearly always single-stemmed, often heavily buttressed at the base, usually seen in parks and large gardens near water. Bark red-brown, fibrous, peeling and spongy. Buds and shoots in opposite pairs. Bright green feathery foliage turns copper-red before falling. Female cones single, globose or cylindrical, 25mm, pendulous. Swamp Cypress differs: less spongy bark, alternate buds and shoots.
Best in sheltered sites with deep, moist soils, and generally unsuitable for small gardens. Not very shade-tolerant compared with other redwoods. It withstands urban pollution. Though unlikely to set seed in mild parts of north-west Europe, it is easily propagated from cuttings. Pruning lower branches can reduce buttressing.
Where introduced, no notable wildlife is associated with this species. In its native range, often grows with mixed broadleaves that are also tolerant of wet soils.
Once threatened locally by timber harvesting, it is now protected in China and widely propagated worldwide. Unfortunately much ornamental stock has limited diversity, raised from a single commercial seed collection or from genetically identical cuttings. This low genetic diversity is likely to reduce resilience to future threats.
Its timber, even from arboricultural arisings, has little value, being quite brittle. Its main appeal is as an ornamental specimen, for its colourful autumn foliage, dramatic bare winter branching and value as a ‘talking point’.
