(Metasequoia glyptostroboides Hu et W. C. Cheng)
Habitus
- tree, which in the original area of distribution grows to a height of up to 35 m
- the crown is narrow when young, later ovate to wide-spreading, deeply branched
- the branches are opposite each other
- the bark is reddish-brown
- the bork is gray-brown split into longitudinal strips
- the trunk in the lower part is usually muscular
Buds
- the buds are ovoid, 5 x 3 mm large, reddish-brown, opposite
Shoots
- it produces two types of shoots: long shoots (macroblasts) - they are persistent:
- shortened shoots (brachyblasts) - they are 50 - 150 x 1 mm large, light green, standing
- opposite each other, they fall in autumn together with the needles
Leaves (assimilation organs)
- the leaves are needle-like , needles are 10 - 35 x 1.5 - 2.5 mm large, linear, bluntly pointed, sessile, light green, turn brown in autumn and fall
- on long shoots (brachyblasts) the needles are arranged cross-oppositely in rarer opposite pairs
- on shortened shoots (brachyblasts) they are arranged in denser pairs in two rows in one line
Flowers
- woody plant monoecious, flowers of different sexes
Fruits – seeds
- the fruit is a cone, 18 - 25 mm large, almost spherical, first green, later brown
Extension
- currently grows naturally in central China in the eastern part of Sichuan Province and the adjacent western part of Hubei Province at altitudes of (400) 700 - 1,400 (2,000) m above the sea level
- it grows above streams and rivers, on the banks of larger rivers
Ecology
- the climate in the environment where it grows is characterized by minor temperature fluctuations, wet summers and mild winters with an annual rainfall of 1,100 - 1,200 mm
- in youth it is semi-photophilous, later photophilous
- it grows well especially in wetter locations
Significance
- it is a rare Tertiary relic, which was previously known to paleobotanists and was found and described as living only in 1944
- in the Tertiary it was spread throughout the northern hemisphere, from Alaska, through Spitsbergen to Greenland
- it is a rare, aesthetically impressive species
- it was introduced to Europe in 1947
