With remarkable vigor, the 'Raven' Shaw's Legacy® dawn redwood grows at a rate of up to 3 feet per year. It is an outstanding, widely adaptable tree for landscape use. Characterized by linear, feathery, fern-like foliage, the needles turn red-bronze in the fall. Its growth habit is pyramidal, with low, uniform branching. As the tree matures, the trunk broadens at the base and develops deeply burrowed, convoluted bark, which gives it an "ancient" appearance.

Historically, the dawn redwood was once commonly present over much of North America.

Metasequoia glyptostroboides seeds were collected from Modaoqi, China, and made available to the Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, in 1947. They were planted on the grounds in 1952. One of those 1952 trees was a little different, and was named 'Raven'. It is distinguished from typical specimens of Metasequoia glyptostroboides in the following ways: uniform pyramidal growth habit, low-branching habit with branches uniformly spaced, deeply furrowed bark, better resistance to foliar diseases and more vigorous growth rate.

It was later named 'Raven' Shaw's Legacy® dawn redwood to recognize Dr. Peter Raven's service to the garden. This new 2011 Plant of Merit® will be available in limited quantities from the Missouri Botanical Garden.

 

Common Name:  Dawn redwood

 Botanical Name:  Metasequoia glyptostroboides 'Raven'

 Zone:  4 to 8

 Height:  70 to 100 feet

 Spread:  25 to 50 feet

 Bloom Time:  Non-flowering

 Bloom Color:  Non-flowering

 Sun:  Full sun

 Water:  Medium to wet

 Maintenance:  Low

(From Missouri Gardener Volume 2011 Issue May/June. Photography by Chris Nejelski.)