Family: Taxodiaceae
Species: Metasequoia glyptostroboides Hu & W.C. Cheng
Common name: Water fir
Etymology
(The original text did not provide an etymology for “Metasequoia glyptostroboides.”)
Description
Metasequoia glyptostroboides is a majestic conifer that sheds its needles in winter. It grows rapidly, reaching a height of around 35 metres and a width of about 5 metres, with a perfectly conical shape. The trunk is straight and robust; its scattered branches point upwards, and the bark, which is brownish-orange, feels fibrous and peels off in large, soft plates.
The leaves are linear and soft, similar to those of Taxodium distichum, but appear in opposite pairs (as do the twigs). Each needle is flat, with a rounded tip, narrow base, and almost no stalk. In autumn, the needles turn yellow at the tips before taking on a splendid bronze colour. The tree then loses the entire twig along with its needles, almost like a compound leaf.
This plant is monoecious: it bears separate male and female reproductive structures on the same tree. The female inflorescences produce small, ovoid cones in the same year, initially green and turning brown. The female “flower” (in fact, a cone) is ovoid; the male cones are pendulous, spherical, and open around February–March.
Habitat
Native to the valley forests of central China, this species thrives in water-rich (even marshy) soils, hence the name “Water Fir.”
Properties and Uses
As M. glyptostroboides is a relatively recent introduction and few specimens have reached full maturity, the properties of its wood are not yet fully known.
Notes and Curiosities
Millions of years ago, Metasequoia glyptostroboides covered much of the globe. Believed extinct since the Pliocene, it was rediscovered in the 1940s in a sacred area of China along the Yangtze River. An international effort was launched to gather 2 kg of seeds, which were quickly distributed to botanical gardens worldwide. In 1945, two cones of this plant reached the dendrologist Wan-Chun Cheng, who immediately recognised something new. After two years of study, Cheng concluded that it must belong to an unknown genus and consulted Hsen-Hen Hu (1946), an authority in Chinese systematics. Hu identified it unequivocally as Metasequoia. In 1948, Hu and Cheng published a paper formally recognising the new species, naming it Metasequoia glyptostroboides Hu & Cheng. Its subsequent global dissemination owes much to the Arnold Arboretum in Boston (United States), which pioneered seed distribution. Seeds also arrived in Italy, where the first specimens were germinated in the Borromeo Botanical Garden on Isola Madre (Lake Maggiore) and in Borghetto di Valeggio sul Mincio (Verona province).
Arturo Hruska followed suit, obtaining M. glyptostroboides seeds for his Gardone garden. Today, one of these specimens can be admired from the kiosk, where visitors can sip a cool drink under its light foliage stirred by the breeze. This striking tree stands out near centuries-old evergreen Turkish oaks in summer with its bright green foliage and in autumn when the leaves turn a vivid reddish-brown. Even when it loses its needles, its charm remains intact: the furrowed bark and powerful, highly ornamental roots add to its appeal.
Preserving specimens of this species is crucial, as ongoing pollution and climate change threaten its survival. Although it has now been planted worldwide, its conservation status remains vulnerable.