Time Chart of Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides)

by J. Zimmerman, Ph.D.

Who said, "Finding a living dawn redwood is at least as remarkable as discoverying a living dinosaur"? What are the highlights of finding this living dinosaur?

Coast Redwood: A Natural and Cultural History by Michael G. Barbour (Editor), et al. Refers to dawn redwoods as well as coast redwoods.

Book Review of Discovered Alive: The Story of the Chinese Redwood by William Gittlen (Pierside Publications).

	Deforesting the Earth: From Prehistory to Global Crisis by Michael Williams.
Books read.	Current hot books on trees and forests.
Ecology. Evolution notes.	A Guide to the Sequoia Groves of California by Dwight Willard - a well-illustrated introduction to the Sequoia groves of the Sierra Nevada.
Trees of North American. Trees of the American Pacific Northwest.	Forest and Tree Home, Glossary pages: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z.

Time Chart for Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides).

• Metasequoia is in the Taxodiaceae Family. Its cousins are the coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) and the giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum).
• Lifespan of the oldest specimens = 600 years.
• No Metasequoia fossils appear in rocks formed less than 2 million years ago (Mya).
• Metasequoia survives in China in a region protected by mountains from bitterly cold winds in winter and scorchingly hot winds in summer. Its preferred natural climate has been preserved in this limited area for millenia.
• 1928: Japan. Sedo Endo assigns certain fossil cones to a new species: Sequoia chinesis. The same type of cone is studied by paleobotonist Dr. Ralph Chaney from fossils in the John Day Valley, but he has not recognized their true uniqueness.
• 1936: Japan. Sedo Endo reports further details of these fossils found in Japan and Korea.
• 1941: China. Forester T. Kan finds a previously undocumented living deciduous conifer in the town of Modaoqi (or Mo-tao-chi).
• 1941: Japan. Shigeru Mike recognizes that these fossil records are unique enough for a new genus, Metasequoia. The unique features include the opposite leaf twigs and cone scales, together with the way the cones attach to tree branches in long stems.

Migration of the Dawn Redwood to the Americas and Europe.

• Re-analysis of the fossil record shows that fossils in Europe, Greenland, Iceland, Siberia, and North America are all Metasequoia, reaching from 20 Mya back to 100 Mya.
• 1944: China. Tsang Wang (Central Bureau of Forest Research) collects leaves and cones. Some are given to Dr. Wan-Chun Cheng, leading to the first written scientific record of living Metasequoia (in 1944 by Hu and Cheng).
• 1948: China. American paleobotonist Dr. Ralph Chaney's expedition reaches the village of Shuishaba, where Metasequoia is called shui-sa or water pine. He collects seeds and seedling.
• April 5, 1948 San Francisco Chronicle prints a photo of paleobotonist Dr. Ralph Chaney with a Metasequoia seedling "back to America -- after a 25,000,000-year absence." See photo reproduced in Gittlen's book.
• 1948: California. "Finding a living dawn redwood is at least as remarkable as discoverying a living dinosaur," says Dr. Ralph Chaney (as quoted in Gittlen's book).
• 1948-onwards. Dawn redwoods are planted throughout the Americas and Europe.

For More Information.

Resources - Book.

• Book Review of Discovered Alive: The Story of the Chinese Redwood by William Gittlen.

Resources - Related pages.

• Home and Index of Articles.
• Dawn Redwood - Introduction.
• Dawn Redwood - How to Grow.
• Pine Trees - Your 60-Second Guide to Naming your Pine.
• Got Conifer -- How You Can Tell What Kind of Conifer You Have.
• The Families of Trees in the Sierra Nevada.
• The Pine Family of Trees in the Sierra Nevada.

Glossary pages: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z.

[Thanks for visiting.]

Copyright © 2001-2006 by J. Zimmerman.