Description
Also known as the water fir or water larch, the dawn redwood is a deciduous conifer that does well in moist conditions. It can tolerate standing water but prefers a deep and moist soil that is a little more well-drained. Once they are well established, they can handle dryer conditions. Dawn redwoods are often referred to as living fossils. Up to the early 1940’s it was thought that they were extinct. Fossil records exist, showing that they had once inhabited Eastern Asia, North America, and Europe. In 1946, it was announced that a stand of Dawn Redwood had been found in central China. Shortly after the announcement, a professor from the Harvard arboretum traveled to China to collect seed from the newly discovered dawn redwood. He brought back a kilogram of seed, then distributed the seed to many other arboretums and gardens around the world. These seeds started the first dawn redwood trees that have lived in the United States since the fossilized ones were alive, two million years ago.
With beautiful feathery foliage and attractive fall color, this is a fantastic tree to plant. The needles are 1/2″ long, flat and bright green, coming off of little branchlets. In the fall they go from a yellowish orange to a brown or reddish brown. The needles persist quite well and stand out nicely among other conifers. Cones on the dawn redwood are 3/4″ long and start out green, then mature to a brown color.
