![]() Urban Forestry Practice, Forestry Commission Handbook 5. A conservation plan for Metasequoia in China. The evolution and biogeographic history of Metasequoia. LePage, Hong Yang & Midori Matsumoto (2005). Competitive advantages of Metasequoia in warm high latitudes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 'The bearing of the living Metasequoia on problems of Tertiary paleobotany'. ![]() Structure, biomass, and productivity of Eocene floodplain forests in the Canadian Arctic' (PDF). 'Reconstruction of Tertiary Metasequoia forests. Monograph of Cupressaceae and Sciadopitys. 'Relationships within Cupressaceae sensu lato: a combined morphological and molecular approach'. The trees are expected to reach a height of 36 meters (118 ft), making them visible from great distances. The trees drop their needles each fall and regrow them each spring, a symbol of eternal renewal. At the northern end of the lawns are three dawn redwood trees. Strawberry Fields is a landscaped section in New York City's Central Park dedicated to Beatle John Lennon. Soon after, seeds were distributed to various universities and arboreta worldwide for growth trials. In 1948, the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, through the help of Hu and Cheng, funded an expedition by Chinese collectors to collect seeds. It was widely regarded as 'the greatest discovery of botany in 20th century'. The discovery of 'living fossil' instantly attracted attention from botanists around the world. After more study, Hu and Cheng published the new species Metasequoia glyptostroboides Hu et Cheng) in May 1948 in the Bulletin of Fan Memorial Institute of Biology. Hu recognized the living specimen was of the same genus of Miki's fossil genus ' Metasequoia'. Hu, despite the chaos of war between China and Japan, was still keeping track of international botanic literature. Cheng then sent specimen to prominent botanist H.H.Hu, the director of Fan Memorial Institute of Biology. Cheng determined that the tree did not belong to Glyptostrobus pensilis, but was a new species. Wang showed the specimen to botanist Wan-Chun Cheng (郑万钧). Wang believed this tree belonged to an known species Glyptostrobus pensilis (水松) and filed the specimens away. Zhan Wang (王战)visited Modaoxi and collected living specimens. Because it was winter, the tree already lost all its leaves, so no specimens were collected by Mr. The locals called this tree shui-sha (水桫). In the winter of the same year, a Chinese botanist Toh Gan (干铎) discovered an unusual big tree in Modaoxi (磨刀溪 presently, Moudao (谋道), in Lichuan County, Hubei ). In 1941, Miki published the description of the fossil plant which he gave the name 'Metasequoia'. The fossil of this genus was discovered by Shigeru Miki in 1939. It is also hypothesized that the change from evergreen to deciduous trait occurred before colonizing the high latitudes and was the reason Metasequoia was dominant in the north. During three months in the summer, the sun would shine continuously, while three months of the winter would be complete darkness. Given that the high latitudes in this period were warm and tropical, it is hypothesized that the deciduous trait evolved in response to the unusual light availability patterns, not to major seasonal variations in temperature. Metasequoia was likely deciduous by this time. During the Paleocene and Eocene, extensive forests of Metasequoia occurred as far north as Strathcona Fiord on Ellesmere Island and sites on Axel Heiberg Island (northern Canada) at around 80° N latitude. Fossils are known from the Cenomanian onwards. Metasequoia redwood fossils are known from many areas in the Northern Hemisphere more than 20 fossil species have been named (some were even identified as the genus Sequoia), but are considered as just three species, M.
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