Dawn Redwood: Metasequoia glyptostroboides, beautiful and fascinating

About a year ago in this space, I wrote about a fascinating tree, the Bald Cypress, Taxodium distichum, that was unique in that it is a conifer that is deciduous rather than evergreen. Conifers, as a group, have narrow, needle-like foliage, and produce cones. Unlike the majority of cone-producing plants that retain their needles year-round, such as pines, firs, cedars, and spruce, the Bald Cypress is one of a select few that goes through a change in fall foliage color prior to dropping its leaves entirely. In fact, there’s really only one other tree species commonly grown in North Carolina that does this, and that is the tree we’ll cover today – the Dawn Redwood, Metasequoia glyptostroboides. 

In addition to the commonality of being deciduous conifers, these two trees also share the attribute of having tremendously fun Latin names to pronounce aloud – go ahead, try them both! Take it slow and you’ll do just fine. The Dawn Redwood is a towering tree, as you might guess from the inclusion of redwood in its common name. Though not a member of the genus Sequoia that comprises the famous California redwoods, the name Metasequoia alludes to the similarities between species, and indeed they are both members of the same botanical subfamily. Notably however, Metasequoia is more tolerant of colder temperatures than its California relative, and though it will get quite large at 75-100’, that is only about a third of the height of the tallest known California redwood. At that height, it’s certainly not easy to incorporate in the average landscape, and thus Metasequoias are most often found in parks and public gardens, such as the Pitt County Arboretum. Our specimen is not nearly 100’ tall, but at about 30 years of age it is one of the largest trees on the property.

Left: Dawn Redwood's pyramidal shape. Photo: J. Robbins, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0  Above: The bark of the Dawn Redwood exfoliates in strips, creating grooves of various shades of red, brown, and burgundy. Photo: C. DeWitt, CC BY 4.0

      A row of Dawn Redwood trees. Photo: J. Robbins, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Metasequoia is native to Central and Western China, and was thought to be extinct until the 1940s, when it was re-discovered during a plant exploration mission. Trees are pyramidal in shape and when fully mature, the oldest branches in the bottom third of the tree will often weep or point downward. The trunk of this tree is quite attractive, as it has a reddish-brown bark that will exfoliate in strips over time, creating grooves of various shades of red, brown, and burgundy. Dawn Redwood produces attractive male and female cones. The greenish-brown male cones are borne in clusters and individually are typically 1/8’ wide or less. Female cones are barrel shaped and may be up to an inch long. The female cones are a pale green color when they form, similar to the color of the leaves, but turn brown when they are fully mature. The leaves, which are a light green through most of the year, turn a cinnamon brown color in the fall, lasting for a few weeks before dropping to the ground. 

Though Bald Cypress is noted for its wide adaptability to soils that are both very wet and very dry, the Dawn Redwood is not quite as adaptable. It needs well-drained soil, and can tolerate occasional periods of wetness, but it will not grow in standing water the way bald cypress sometimes do.
Though Dawn Redwood may be a bit too large to add to your home landscape, it is a beautiful and fascinating tree that any true plant lover should seek out and appreciate. Stop by and visit ours any time!  
 
Matthew Stevens is the County Extension Director and Horticulture Agent for North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Pitt County Center.  If you have questions about this article or gardening in general, please contact the Pitt County Extension Master Gardeners at [email protected] or 252-902-1705.