Dawn Redwood is a fast growing tree genus in the conifer family Cupressaceae of which Metasequoia glyptostroboides, is the only living species.
Dawn Redwood is a fast-growing tree to 25-45 m tall and 1 to 2 m trunk diameter in cultivation so far (There is potential to grow to even greater heights).
The leaves are bright fresh green and grow opposite, 1-3 cm long, turning a foxy red-brown in fall.
A living fossil !Dawn Redwood was once one of the most widespread tree species in the Northern hemisphere (during the Tertiary period).
Fossils have been found across the northern hemisphere, including Greenland and Spitzbergen, dating from when the continents were further south, and close together sharing a common flora.
In 1941 Shigeru Miki of Japan was reclassifying fossil remains that had been incorrectly classified as Sequoia and Taxodium.
Due to its resemblance to the North American coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), he named the tree species Metasequoia, which means "almost a sequoia, sequoia-ish".
Botanists think this species is the ancestor of the present day coast redwood.
To summarize: at that time, the tree was only known as an fossil tree species, extinct for millions of years.
