Mother of Gardens
DAWN REDWOOD
Metasequoia glyptostroboides
This prized redwood has been called a "living fossil" and is a
testament to why China's flora is so diverse. Like many other plants
in China, this species survived the last Ice Age, when glaciation
wiped out similar flora in North America and Europe. Until 1948, the
genus Metasequoia was known only from the fossil record, but
a small stand of trees discovered in the Sichuan-Hubei region proved
to belong to this ancient genus. Thanks to seed and saplings
collected in China, the dawn redwood now flourishes in gardens
throughout the world.