Hoyt Arboretum, Portland, Oregon, USA

Common name: dawn redwood, 水杉 shui shan

Family: Cupressaceae

Distribution: West China Hubei and Hunan provinces

Habitat: Wet lower slopes, montane river and stream valleys

IUCN Red list: Endangered

Hardiness: Zone 4a -30 to -25 F

Life form: Deciduous conifer

Usage: Ornamental shade tree, Chinese medicine

Comments: Dawn redwood is a fast growing deciduous conifer reaching 100' x 25' at maturity. Often called a "living fossil", this tree was known only from the fossil record and thought to be extinct until the early 1940s when isolated populations were found alive in central China. A botanical expedition from Arnold Arboretum (Harvard Univ) then collected seeds and distributed them to botanic gardens and arboreta in N. America. Hoyt Arboretum received a package of seeds and one of those trees grew and produced cones for the first time in the northern hemisphere in millions of years.
Dawn redwood leaves are opposite, linear, feathery, soft to the touch, 1-3cm long. Spring foliage is a light green, needles are soft, featherlike turning a deep green in summer. In autumn, leaves turn red bronze in color and then drop. Deeply fissured orange, shaggy bark provides winter interest. Trees are monoecious, producing oval, light brown female cones (3/4” long) and pendant globose male cones (1/2” long).Best grown in moist, rich, well-drained soils in full sun. Best foliage color is in full sun. Appreciates consistent moisture. Tolerates some wet soils.
The fossil record suggests that Metasequoia first evolved about 100 million years ago in eastern Russia, then spread to Japan and throughout much of western North America. By 60 mya it is documented from northern Europe. By the end of the Miocene (about 5 mya), Metasequoia vanished from the fossil records in Eurasia and North America, and this indicates that it is relatively new to central China, perhaps only 2 mya.
Metasequoia leaves and bark is used in Chinese folk medicine as an anti-microbic, analgesic and anti-inflammatory drug for dermatic diseases.
Oregon’s state fossil!
The species is widely planted as an ornamental.