#Metasequoia occidentalis full

This Time in History In these videos, find out what happened this month (or any month!) in history.#WTFact Videos In #WTFact Britannica shares some of the most bizarre facts we can find.Demystified Videos In Demystified, Britannica has all the answers to your burning questions.Britannica Classics Check out these retro videos from Encyclopedia Britannica’s archives.Britannica Explains In these videos, Britannica explains a variety of topics and answers frequently asked questions.

#Metasequoia occidentalis full

Very rapid grower, best on slightly acidic soils, full sun is needed. Dawn redwood tree metasequoia glyptostroboides full# Avoid locating the plant in frost pockets since late growth is injured by early fall frosts.

Notes: ‘Deciduous conifer’ that drops its needles in autumn. Fernlike, foliage is medium to bright green. Autumn Foliage turns a unique pinkish tan to reddish bronze before dropping in the fall. Makes a good lawn tree to provide shade, for golf courses, needs space to develop. Wildlife: The Dawn Redwood provides winter cover for birds, small mammals and deer.Ĭold Stream Farm supplies Dawn Redwood trees which are grown as bare root seedlings and transplants and sold both wholesale and retail with no minimum order.Īdditional information on Metasequoia glyptostroboides can be found on the link: USDA / NRCS Plants Database. Additions to the International Conifer Register.Metasequoia(dawn redwood) is a fast-growing, deciduous tree, and the sole living species, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, is one of three species of conifers known as redwoods. It is native to the Sichuan–Hubei region of China. Although the least tall of the redwoods, it grows to at least 200 feet (60 meters) in height. Local villagers refer to the original tree from which most others derive as Shui-sa, or 'water fir', which is part of a local shrine. Since that tree's rediscovery in 1944, the dawn redwood has become a popular ornamental. Together with Sequoia sempervirens (coast redwood) and Sequoiadendron giganteum (giant sequoia) of California, Metasequoia is classified in the Cupressaceae subfamily Sequoioideae. Although Metasequoia glyptostroboides is the only living species in its genus, three fossil species are known, as well. Dawn redwood on the campus of San Jose State University The other Sequoioideae and several other genera have been transferred from the former Taxodiaceae family to Cupressaceae based on DNA analysis. Metasequoia redwood fossils are known from many areas in the Northern Hemisphere more than 20 fossil species have been named (some were even identified as the genus Sequoia), but are considered as just three species, M. During the Paleocene and Eocene, extensive forests of Metasequoia occurred as far north as Strathcona Fiord on Ellesmere Island and sites on Axel Heiberg Island (northern Canada) at around 80° N latitude. Metasequoia was likely deciduous by this time. Given that the high latitudes in this period were warm and tropical, it is hypothesized that the deciduous habit evolved in response to the unusual light availability patterns, not to major seasonal variations in temperature. During three months in the summer, the sun would shine continuously, while three months of the winter would be complete darkness. It is also hypothesized that the change from evergreen to deciduous habit occurred before colonizing the high latitudes and was the reason Metasequoia was dominant in the north. Large petrified trunks and stumps of the extinct Metasequoia occidentalis (sometimes identified as Sequoia occidentalis) also make up the major portion of Tertiary fossil plant material in the badlands of western North Dakota in the United States. Before its discovery, the taxon was believed to have become extinct during the Miocene when it was discovered extant, it was heralded as a 'living fossil.' The trees are well known from late Cretaceous to Miocene strata, but no fossils are known after that. While the bark and foliage are similar to another closely related redwood genus Sequoia, Metasequoia differs from the California redwood in that it is deciduous like Taxodium distichum (bald cypress), and like that species, older specimens form wide buttresses on the lower trunk.

It is a fast-growing tree to 130 to 150 feet (40 – 45 m) tall and 6 feet (2 m) in trunk diameter in cultivation so far (with the potential to grow to even greater heights). Metasequoia glyptostroboides leaves Dawn redwood foliage, note opposite arrangement. The leaves are opposite, 0.4 to 1.25 inches (1 – 3 cm) long, and bright fresh green, turning a foxy red-brown in fall. The pollen cones are 0.25 inch (6 mm) long, produced on long spikes in early spring they are only produced on trees growing in regions with hot summers.

Dawn redwood tree metasequoia glyptostroboides full#.