Metasequoia glyptostroboides

[Camino LS6]

Anyone know what it is?

[Z-06]

Meta sequoia - makes me think it is a conifer. Possibly a fern like tree.

[Camino LS6]

It is a conifer, a very interesting one.

[Camino LS6]

Can anyone guess at more?

[Robert Hall]

Hmm.. Metasequoia glyptostroboides. Meta prefix means 'information about'... so it's something used to describe a Toyota Sequoia--like a type of catalog or something?

Edited June 22, 2009 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[Camino LS6]

Meta means something else in this case.

[Camino LS6]

Its closest living relatives are:

Sequoiadendron giganteum

and

Sequoia sempervirens

Two rather famous trees.

[Intrepidation]

a plant

[Camino LS6]

a plant

Brilliant!

Ok, ok, I'll post the details a bit later. This plant is interesting for two unusual reasons.

[Camino LS6]

Here's the deal:

The tree is the Dawn Redwood.

The first unusual thing about it is that it is a deciduous conifer. Meaning that, unlike most conifers (pine, spruce, fir, etc.) it is not evergreen. The Dawn Redwood turns a copper color in the late fall and drops its leaves for the winter.

The second unusual thing about the Dawn Redwood is that it is one of the oldest living species of tree in the world. In fact, the entire genus (metasequoia) was thought to be extinct until the 1940s when a grove was discovered in China. The tree really is a "living fossil", and only this one species is known to exist outside of the fossil record.

It's one of my favorite trees.

[Intrepidation]

That is very interesting, got a few photos of it? I had no idea a deciduous conifer existed.

[Camino LS6]

That is very interesting, got a few photos of it? I had no idea a deciduous conifer existed.

I haven't found many good pics on the web yet.

There are other deciduous conifers (Bald Cypress, Larch, etc.) but not many.

I'm going to look again for good pics.

[Camino LS6]

By CaminoLS6

[Camino LS6]

By CaminoLS6

[Camino LS6]

By CaminoLS6

[Camino LS6]

Some decent shots here:

http://www.bomengids.nl/uk/soorten/Metaseq...wn_redwood.html

But it's from Europe and they grow a bit differently there.

[Oracle of Delphi]

I prefer Taxodium distichum, the North American Bald Cypress. One of the few deciduous conifers of North America, Bald Cypress is a large tree to over 100 feet tall and a straight trunk to 8 feet in diameter, with numerous ascending branches. Young trees display a narrow, conical outline, but old trees have a swollen, fluted base, a slowly tapering trunk, and a broad, open, flat top. In swamps they develop distinctive woody growths from the root system called "knees."

This tree is a native of the southeast United States, from Texas to Delaware. I have 3 on my property in Delaware because they remind me of Texas. I have noticed them creeping into Chester and Delaware counties Pennsylvania, I suppose that's because the climate is warming, not sure.

Bald Cypress Tree

Bald Cypress Cone

Delaware has the Northern most Cypress Swamp

Edited June 23, 2009 by Pontiac Custom-S

[Camino LS6]

The Taxodiums have always been hardy here and are an interesting genus in the same family.

I find that they lack the grace of the Metasequoia though.

[A Horse With No Name]

I've actually thought of planting one of those in my yard...

Chris

[Intrepidation]

So Camino, if a post a photo of the tree in my yard will you be able to name it?

[Sixty8panther]

Wow.... cool stuff.

Always nice to learmn something new at random.

This is the kind of stuff that makes C&G fun,

unprovoked tangents we go on just for the $h!s

& giggles. It's why Al Gore invented the internet

one day back in 1992 after feasting on a Spotted

Owl Sandwich & shooting a Right Whale in the

face with a forked harpoon.

[Camino LS6]

I can oblige with a plant thread anytime.

Next up: Sciadopitys verticillata

[Z-06]

I can oblige with a plant thread anytime.

Next up: Sciadopitys verticillata

Do you have fascination for pines and conifers? Isn't that a Japanese pine?

[Camino LS6]

Do you have fascination for pines and conifers? Isn't that a Japanese pine?

Not really, but Sciadopitys was once considered to a member of the same family as Metasequoia. I actually like mamy, many, types of woody plants.

And yes, it is Japanese and commonly called a pine - but it isn't actually a pine. In fact, it has its own family all by itself.

[ocnblu]

Sciadopitys is actually curvature of the spine. Don't question me!:AH-HA_wink:

[Camino LS6]

[Camino LS6]

Very cool looking wood!