Metasequoia glyptostroboides (Dawn Redwood)

The California redwood (Sequoia) has similar bark and foliage but the Metasequoia genus is deciduous. Two trees are planted near the Children's Pavilion and you will notice the buttresses on the lower trunk are beginning to form. The trees grow well in temperate climates and may grow to more than 40 m (130 ft).

A small stand of these trees was discovered in China in 1944. What is quite unusual is the Metasequoia was first found as a fossil and described and named before living specimens were known to exist. An expedition from the Arnold Arboretum in 1948 collected seeds and within a short period seedlings were available for arboreta around the world.

In the early 1950s the Ross family acquired seedlings from the City of Victoria Parks Department and planted them at The Gardens.

Learn more on Wikipedia

View our Living Fossil brochure for details on a number of plants.