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THE GARDEN SAGEA library of living things
Trees & woodland lore · Western North Carolina field companion

Dawn redwood

Metasequoia glyptostroboides

Dawn redwood needle-bearing branchlets. Look closely for opposite needle pairs and opposite side branchlets; bald cypress has alternate attachments.
Dawn redwood needle-bearing branchlets. Look closely for opposite needle pairs and opposite side branchlets; bald cypress has alternate attachments.☀ Full sunCrusier ↗ · CC BY 3.0
Photo contextResized and converted to WebP; no diagnostic content altered.

Fast, dramatic specimen for large moist sites; deciduous, so not a winter screen.

Sun Exposure
Full sun
MATURE HEIGHT (FT)
70–100
MATURE WIDTH (FT)
25–35
BLOOM SEASON
Spring
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Get to know this plant.

Identification clue 1

Soft needles in opposite pairs

Identification clue 2

Opposite small side branchlets

Identification clue 3

Needles turn copper and fall

Read the leaves

Trace each needle pair and the little leafy branchlets back to their attachment. Both are opposite, a key difference from bald cypress.

More growing details

Read the bark

Reddish-brown bark becomes vertically fibrous and furrowed.

Fruit & seed

Small rounded woody seed cones hang on stalks.

Winter character

Opposite buds and branchlet scars remain after this deciduous conifer loses its foliage.

Origin & place

An introduced garden species or horticultural hybrid; study it as part of WNC landscapes rather than assume it belongs to the native mountain flora.

Compare with Bald cypress

Bald cypress has alternate needle and branchlet attachments, even when foliage looks two-ranked.

WNC Notes

Fast, dramatic specimen for large moist sites; deciduous, so not a winter screen.

Sun Exposure

Full sun

MATURE HEIGHT (FT)

70–100

MATURE WIDTH (FT)

25–35

BLOOM SEASON

Spring

BLOOM COLOR

Inconspicuous

FALL / WINTER COLOR

Russet-orange

Wet-Soil Tolerance

High

Drought Tolerance

Moderate

LOOK CLOSELY

Two views, a closer look.

Place two photographs beside one another. Compare the overall plant with leaves, flowers, or bark when those views are available. Captions identify what each photograph actually shows. Images are not at the same scale; species references may show different cultivars.

Dawn redwood needle-bearing branchlets. Look closely for opposite needle pairs and opposite side branchlets; bald cypress has alternate attachments.
Dawn redwood needle-bearing branchlets. Look closely for opposite needle pairs and opposite side branchlets; bald cypress has alternate attachments.☀ Full sunCrusier ↗ · CC BY 3.0
Photo contextResized and converted to WebP; no diagnostic content altered.
Buttressed trunk and fibrous bark of dawn redwood — species reference; cultivar identity not inferred.
Buttressed trunk and fibrous bark of dawn redwood — species reference; cultivar identity not inferred.☀ Full sunCathy Dewitt ↗ · CC BY 4.0
Photo contextResized and converted to WebP; full original composition retained.

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