Unusual and exotic trees – the Dawn Redwood
by Lewis, 29 October, 2019, 0 comments
Just as the woodland blog has described the maidenhair tree as a ‘living fossil’, so the same phrase can be applied to the Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides). All species belonging the genus Metasequoia were thought to have died out sometime during the Miocene Period.
The Miocene began 23 million years ago and ended about five million years back. The Miocene saw the evolution of the first dogs and bears, the uplifting of the Alps and significant climatic changes such as the MMCO - the mid miocene climate optimum. During the MMCO, the temperatures were above today’s average global temperature, which lead to drier conditions across the world with a consequent decrease in woodlands and an increase in a more open landscape. The Metasequoias were casualties of this changing environment; the Metasequoia forests, which extended as far as 80oN, disappeared. Indeed, all species were thought to have gone but then in 1941, a living member of the genus was found in China - the water fir (as it was known locally). Read more...
