Metasequoia in Alabama

 

 

I have 5 Metasequois in my yard, one planted 3 years ago and the other 4 have been in the ground for 2 summers. We used to talk about our house being called The Oaks, but in years to come, somone may call it The Place Where the Metasequoias Grow. Or it might be called the Bald Cypress Homestead, as the 2 trees are so easily confused to the untrained eye. In fact, althought I am growing Dawn Redwood, I state that emphatically simply because I purchased them as such. The trees will have to be older before I can make a definite ID on them.
Metasequoias have cones that open and disburse the seed, bald cypress have cones that crumble. Metasequoia is said to grow faster and have more buttressing and fluting of the lower trunk. Both have beautiful fall color. As you can see from the color here, the orange/brown color is quite different from our other fall colors.
I expect these trees to grow from 180-200 feet tall, and they are already growing quickly.
My original acquisition of these trees was based on their romantic history. It was known from the fossil record by 3 species, but was thought to be extinct until 1944 when one was discovered growing in a temple garden in China. Most of the current trees originated as seeds from this tree although a small grove was also discovered. Trees in temple gardens are carefully tended and this may account for the discovery of another living fossil, the Gingko, also in a temple garden.
I like to think of these trees "lifting their leafy arm to pray" long after I can no longer lift mine.