China - Metasequoia: the national fossil tree. CHINA'S 'FOSSIL TREE' once thought extinct - now a bright future (CHAO CHIU JU)A METASEQUOIA SEEMING growth potential of more than 35 metres (JOHN KUSER) There exists in the world a living fossil tree - the Metasequoia glyptostroboides (dawn redwood), native to China This old and rare tree species was thought, until recently to be. Metasequoia glyptostroboides ‘Hamlet’s Broom’ is a compact form of Dawn Redwood with creamy white variegated foliage in spring, changing to bright green in summer and becoming golden yellow to deep russet in fall before needle drop as winter approaches. Characteristic shaggy orange bark can be admired on this tree that has a size and growth rate amenable to today’s urban landscapes. More important than winter cold is the length of growing season, and the time of late spring freezes and early fall freezes. Melasequoia glyptostroboides was found in an area of a long growing season. It starts to grow early in the spring and frequently its growth is not fully matured until mid or late fall. The 6 week trip was very difficult and the expedition experienced 'bad weather, bad food, and political problems.' Although the Metasequoia trees they saw were in their winter form, i.e., leafless, they returned with plant sample, seeds and seedlings. Their journey and the story of the 'living fossil' produced a great deal of interest and was reported in the national media.

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Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Water Fir, Shui-hsa

A tree up to 115 ft high in the wild with a trunk about 61⁄2 to 91⁄2 ft in diameter at the base. Bark fissured, dark grey in colour, peeling off in old trees. Branches opposite, glabrous, green in the young state, turning brown later and becoming brownish grey in the second or third year. Lateral shoots deciduous in winter, glabrous, opposite, up to 21⁄4 in. long, arranged distichously, persistent buds at the base. Winter-buds ovoid or obtuse, 1⁄6 in. long, 1⁄8 in. wide, glabrous. Bracts decussate, broadly ovate, yellowish brown, paler and thinner on the margins. Leaves deciduous, opposite, arranged in two ranks, linear, 1⁄3 to 1⁄2 in. long, 1⁄24 to 1⁄12 in. wide, sessile or nearly sessile, blue-green above, light green below. Flowers monoecious, solitary; staminate flowers axillary and terminal about 1⁄5 in. long, in a raceme or panicle; bracts decussate, triangular-ovate or obovate. Pedicels about 1⁄8 in. long. Stamens twenty filaments short. Pistillate flowers solitary, about 1⁄3 in. long; bracts decussate, both sides glabrous, the lower ones triangular-ovate. Peduncles 1⁄8 in. long, leafy. Cones ripening in the first year, pendulous, sub-quadrangular-globose or shortly cylindric, 3⁄4 to 1 in. long, 2⁄3 to 9⁄10 in. wide, dark brown in colour. Seeds five to nine under each scale, winged, compressed, obovate, the apex notched, 1⁄5 in. long, 1⁄6 in. wide. Bot. Mag., n.s., t. 716.

The above description is based on that published in the Bulletin of the Fan Memorial Institute of Biology, New Series, Vol. i (1948), No. 2, p. 153.

Native of China in a restricted locality on the borders of W. Hupeh and N.E. Szechwan, where it inhabits ravines and the banks of streams. It was first seen by a Chinese botanist in 1941 but specimens were not taken until about three years later; seeds werecollected in autumn 1947 and sent to the Arnold Arboretum, whence they were distributed to many gardens in America and Europe in 1948. In the second volume of the last edition of this work, published in 1951, it was stated that there were small trees at Kew and in the Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley which, in 1949, at the end of their second season, were 3 to 4 ft high. Now, twenty years later, the tallest of the original trees at Kew measures 47 × 33⁄4 ft (1971) and at Wisley 49 × 21⁄4 ft (1968). Other trees from the original seed are: Savill Gardens, Windsor Great Park, 51 × 23⁄4 ft (1967); Ladhams, Goudhurst, Kent, 46 × 33⁄4 ft (1967); Snowdenham House, Surrey, 40 × 2 ft (1964); Leonardslee, Sussex, 40 × 4 ft, 54 × 21⁄4 ft and 50 × 23⁄4 ft (1968); University Botanic Garden, Cambridge, 44 × 33⁄4 ft (Lake) and 41 × 3 ft (Frameyard) (1969); Emmanuel College, Cambridge, 44 × 33⁄4 ft (1969); Clare College, Cambridge, 46 × 33⁄4 ft (1969).

Metasequoia glyptostroboides is perfectly hardy but is subject to damage by late spring frosts. It thrives best in a deep moderately moist soil and on dry sandy soil or shallow chalk it grows slowly. Although it will, perhaps, never make such a fine specimen tree as Taxodium distichum it is much faster growing and less demanding. The leaves are a pleasant soft green and turn foxy brown or pinkish brown before falling. It is easily propagated by half-ripe cuttings taken June to mid-August and placed in bottom heat, but hardwood cuttings will root in a cold frame (S. A. Pearce, Gard. Chron. (28 July 1956), pp. 86-87). If young plants make multiple leaders, as sometimes happens, the superfluous ones make excellent cutting material. Female cones are borne quite frequently, but there is so far no record of fertile seeds having been produced in Britain or indeed anywhere in the colder parts of Europe. The explanation appears to be that male cones, even if produced, do not ripen, either because the growing season is too short for their complete development, or because they are killed in winter. See further in: D. Wyman, ‘Metasequoia after twenty years in cultivation’, Journ. R.H.S., Vol.95 (1970), pp. 444-451 (reprinted from Arnoldia, Vol. 28 (1968), pp. 113-123).

Metasequoia Glyptostroboides White Spot

From the Supplement (Vol. V)

The specimens listed are from the original introduction and were planted in 1949 or the early 1950s: Kew, by Lily Pond, 79 × 71⁄4 ft (1984); Richmond, Terrace Garden, 72 × 41⁄2 ft and, by Tow Path, 69 × 43⁄4 ft (1984); Richmond Park, Isabella Garden, 62 × 41⁄2 ft (1984); Cannizaro Park, Wimbledon, London, 81 × 41⁄2 ft (1985); Hampton Court, Surrey, 52 × 5 ft (1981); Savill Garden, Windsor Great Park, 88 × 51⁄4 ft (1984); Royal Horticultural Society’s Garden, Wisley, Surrey, in Woodland Garden, 85 × 53⁄4 ft (1984) and, on Battleston Hill, 74 × 41⁄2 ft (1981); Riverside Walk, Esher, Surrey, 60 × 63⁄4 ft (1981); Snowdenham House, Surrey, 74 × 61⁄4 ft and 68 × 63⁄4 ft (1981); Ladham House, Kent, 69 × 71⁄4 ft (1984); Leonardslee, Sussex, Bank, 75 × 61⁄2 ft, Dell, 71 × 7 ft and 79 × 43⁄4 ft, Rock Garden, 50 × 7 ft (1984); Nymans, Sussex, Magnolia Garden, 72 × 6 ft and, near Pinetum, 60 × 6 ft (1983); Alice Holt Lodge, Hants, 46 × 7 ft (1984); Upper Park, Bournemouth, a new discovery, 80 × 91⁄2 ft (1985); Stourhead, Wilts., 69 × 61⁄4 ft (1984); Bath Botanic Garden, 52 × 51⁄2 ft (1984); Cockington Court, Devon, 72 × 63⁄4 ft (1984); Killerton, Devon, 75 × 51⁄4 ft (1983); Bicton, Devon, American Garden, 70 × 51⁄4 ft (1983); Oxford Botanic Garden, 64 × 7 ft (1983); University Botanic Garden, Cambridge, Lake (east), 69 × 71⁄2 ft, Lake (north), 65 × 41⁄4 ft, Frameyard, 56 × 51⁄4 ft (1984); Emmanuel College, Cambridge, 62 × 63⁄4 ft (1981); Clare College, Cambridge, 54 × 6 ft (1981); Hodnet Hall, Shrops., 56 × 6 ft (1984); Tatton Park, Ches., 72 × 53⁄4 ft (1983, meas. M. Frankis); Muncaster Castle, Cumb., 62 × 51⁄4 ft (1984); Clyne Castle, nr Swansea, 54 × 53⁄4 ft (1982); Singleton Abbey, Swansea, 68 × 53⁄4 ft (1982); The Gliffaes Hotel, Powys, 46 × 53⁄4 ft (1984); Bodnant, Gwyn., largest of several 69 × 73⁄4 ft (1984); Castle Kennedy, Wigt., 52 × 41⁄2 ft (1984).

Metasequoia Glyptostroboides Winterville

For measurements of some trees in the eastern USA see The Garden (Journ. R.H.S.), Vol. 107, p. 249 (1982). Three of those listed there (measured 1981) were 100 ft or slightly more in height and several are 9 ft or more in girth.

Metasequoia Glyptostroboides Winter Red

A reintroduction to Britain from the native stands in Hupeh promises to be of even faster growth than the original. Four seedlings received at Kew from the Forestry Commission in 1980 were planted out in 1983. One of two planted at the near end of the Lake measures 14 ft × 10 in. at 4 ft (autumn, 1986).

Metasequoia Glyptostroboides Bonsai

Recommended citation
'Metasequoia glyptostroboides' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/metasequoia/metasequoia-glyptostroboides/). Accessed 2021-04-25.