Metasequoia glyptostroboides - Dawn Redwood Seeds

Description

This true spectacle of nature is one of three species of conifers known as sequoias. A true living fossil. A breathtaking pine with varying coloration of its leaves during the seasons of the year.

A little of history…
The genase metasequoia was first described as a mesozoic era fossil in 1941, but in 1943 a small group was identified and discovered in china in modaoxi (presently moudao, lichuan city, hubei).

Due to World War II, they were studied and finally described only in 1948, when at that time the arnoldum arnold at harvard university sent an expedition to collect seeds and distribute them to various universities and arborets around the world.

In the city of lichuan, there is a forest today made up of approximately 5,000 trees of metasequoia glyptostroboides. Since its discovery the species has become a national point of pride and is simultaneously protected under Chinese law and widely planted. As such, however, it is critically endangered in nature.
Although logging is prohibited and illegal, the demand for campaign seedlings and cone gathering has been so aggressively sustained that it has reached the point where natural reproduction is no longer occurring in the redwood dawn forest. And even if the species will continue to live on patios, parks and roads all over China, the metasequoia glyptostroboides forest ecosystem could disappear when mature trees die.

In 1995, a center for the preservation of this species was established in North Carolina, where they were planted in a natural state and their records can be observed and documented in the wild without travel to China. The goal of this project is 1,000-5,000 trees.
This “preservation wood” is scheduled to open to the public only in 2035.

The species prefers its planting in moist and well-drained soil, does not grow well in alkaline or dry soil. It is very tolerant of soil drenching and / or flooded soils.

The dawn fossil is a majestic specimen, a true sanctuary for its place of origin, is fast growing and extremely ornamental in addition to providing excellent quality wood.