The Dawn Redwood
Metasequoia glyptostroboides
![](https://priestgate.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Metasequoia_young_tree_shutterstock_1483104017.jpg)
Reported to have been discovered first of all as a fossil, the Dawn Redwood is a native of China, and a small number were found in an isolated valley in the early 1940s. They were introduced to the UK in the form of seeds in 1947, so if you come across a mature one, it can’t have an age greater than 77 (at the time of writing). In their native environment they will top out at 35 Metres plus.
![](https://priestgate.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Metasequoia_foliage_shutterstock_1704880948-940x705.jpg)
This Conifer is one of those strange ones, in as much as it is deciduous. So this image is of the freshly emerged new leaves.
![](https://priestgate.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Metasequoia_leaf__bud_shutterstock_1731080068-940x627.jpg)
I include this image to demonstrate that the ‘axillary bud’ (the bud which usually sits on the branch above the leaf stalk) in the case of the Dawn Redwood, sits below. A good clue for identification purposes.
![](https://priestgate.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Metasequoia_autumn_leaf_shutterstock_2386244347-940x627.jpg)