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To mark #NationalTreeWeek, gather around as we tell the long lost tale of the Dawn Redwood trees on campus
It all starts in the Sichuan-Hubei Region of China in 1941
It all starts in the Sichuan-Hubei Region of China in 1941
With the help of fossils, we know the dawn redwood can be traced back 100 million years to the Mesozoic Era
But until the mid-twentieth century, the dawn redwood - or, Metasequoia Glyptostroboides - was thought to be long extinct.
However...
But until the mid-twentieth century, the dawn redwood - or, Metasequoia Glyptostroboides - was thought to be long extinct.
However...
In 1941, Kan Duo, a Chinese botanist, observed a huge living tree that matched the traits of the fossilised metasequoia
His findings were never published but the tree lived on in Chongqing where villagers made a shrine to the tree and called it the 'water fir.'
His findings were never published but the tree lived on in Chongqing where villagers made a shrine to the tree and called it the 'water fir.'
Samples of a similar tree were collected in 1943 from the village of Moudao, but WWII delayed their identification
In Beijing 1946, Hu Xiansu confirmed the tree matched the fossilised genus of the metasequoia, aka the dawn redwood.
In Beijing 1946, Hu Xiansu confirmed the tree matched the fossilised genus of the metasequoia, aka the dawn redwood.
Following the identification, @Harvard graduate, Hu, contacted his alma mater, and the @ArnoldArboretum funded the collection and preservation of this tree's precious seeds
And then something wonderful happened...
And then something wonderful happened...
Seeds were then sent all over the world, to places including @KewGardens and @Cambridge_Uni, to see how they might grow in different climates, and to preserve the species.
By pure luck, we ended up with some seeds here at Leeds where the dawn redwoods now tower over campus
By pure luck, we ended up with some seeds here at Leeds where the dawn redwoods now tower over campus