dawn redwood

American  

[dawn red-wood] / ˈdɔn ˈrɛdˌwʊd /

noun

1. an endangered deciduous conifer, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, the shortest of the three extant species of subfamily Sequoioideae, reaching a height of 150 feet (45.7 meters): known only as widespread Mesozoic fossils until isolated living specimens were discovered in central China in the 1940s.

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dawn redwood British  

noun

1. a deciduous conifer, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, native to China but planted in other regions as an ornamental tree: family Taxodiaceae. Until the 1940s it was known only as a fossil

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Etymology

Origin of dawn redwood

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

They wondered how a dawn redwood, classified as an evergreen, could lose its needles in the fall.

From Seattle Times • May 24, 2024

Other conifers in the fossil flora are the dawn redwood, Metasequoia, and swamp cypress Glyptostrobus.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 15, 2023

The metasequoia, or dawn redwood, entered a sort of plant limbo in the darkness, neither growing nor showing visible signs of decline.

From Los Angeles Times • May 31, 2023

The discovery of the Wollemia recalls the find of another fossil tree, the dawn redwood, which resurfaced in the wild in China in the 1940s.

From Washington Post • Jan. 21, 2020

One of the most dramatic tree plantings is an avenue of dawn redwood in a narrow canyon of space between two tall buildings.

From Washington Post • May 24, 2016