Dawn Redwood
 

Mature Size, Growth, Longevity

Average mature size of 70-100' tall and 25' wide. Fast growth rate, 50' in 15-20 years.

Native Range

Native to eastern Szechuan and western China. Fossil records indicate it was also native to North America, but went extinct. After an absence of some 15 million years M. glyptostroboides was returned in the 1940s.

Flower and Fruit Details

Flowers are monoecious, male flowers in racemes or panicles up to 12" long. Females are solitary. Fruits in cylindrical cones, pendulous, on 0.75-1.75 long stalks, cylindrical, dark brown.

Leaf and Bark Features

Orange-brown to red-brown fall color. Bark is reddish-brown when young, with age becoming darker, fissured and exfoliating in long narrow strips.

Culture and Care

Easy to transplant. Best in moist, deep, well-drained, slightly acid soils in full sun. May grow late into summer and early fall, and is damaged by early freezes. Zones 5-8. No serious disease or insect problems, Japanese beetles will feed on foliage, may be prone to canker infestations.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Other Facts

One of the oldest tree species on still living on Earth today.

Suggested Uses

A lovely ornamental, well suited for large areas and in groves along streams and lakes.

Taxa and Plants of this Species at BCA