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32 Arnoldia 68/1 David Brandenburg The author with a witches’-broom on one of the Dawes plantation trees. In 2009, both the genetic and taxonomic (cultivar) collections of dawn redwoods at the Dawes Arboretum were granted full status as a North American Plant Collections Consortium (NAPCC) collection. This symbolizes the commitment of the staff and organization to fulfilling the duty of preserving this important collection. As a repository for North America, requests for propagation material are honored for research purposes. Of horticultural interest, there are well over two dozen cultivars of Metasequoia that add to the range of variation within the species. ‘Miss Grace’ and ‘Bonsai’ are dwarf selections, ‘Jack Frost’ has a hint of variegation, and ‘Ogon’ (syn. ‘Gold Rush’) is a Japanese cultivar with bright yellow foliage that originated from irradiated seeds. Several cultivar selections could be made from the Dawes plantation trees, as there are some interesting habits and foliage types. Tree heights of the plantation trees are from scarcely 3 feet (1 meter) tall to over 33 feet (10 meters), and habits range from squat and round to tall and narrow with many forms in between. Foliage varies from large and coarse to small and fine, with colors in shades of green and bronze. A witches’-broom—which may yield dwarf forms—has even been found on one specimen.
Dawn Redwood at the Dawes Arboretum 33 genetic isolation due to habitat fragmentation (Leng et al. 2007). As stated earlier, natural pollen dissemination is limited. Since these wide-ranging Chinese collections are located together in a single plantation at Dawes, broad genetic combinations could occur. The resultant mixed, open-pollinated seeds could prove useful for horticultural purposes as well as for selecting for resistance to any future insect or disease pressures. These seeds would have limited use for some conservation projects (since they are from mixed meta-populations), but there is potential for controlled crossing within the separate seed lot collections, which would give greater conservation value. The seeds produced here will be made available to seed banks, researchers, and growers. This collection holds many opportunities for future studies and research to be conducted without traveling to China. The sister population at Rutgers University is currently the subject of an amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis to assess the breadth of the genetic diversity of the collection. Since most of the genotypes at Rutgers are duplicates of dawn redwoods in the collection at Dawes, the data from the AFLP study will pertain to this collection as well. We hope that this successful ex situ collection at the Dawes Arboretum will aid in the conservation and further understanding of this ancient and impressive species. Bibliography Andrews, H.N. 1948. Metasequoia and the Living Fossils. Missouri Botanical Garden Bulletin 36(5): 79–85. Bartholomew, B., D.E. Boufford, and S.A. Spongberg, 1983. Metasequoia glyptostroboides—Its Present Status in Central China. Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 64: 105–128. Ecker, Eisenman, S.W. 2009. Pers. comm. Rutgers University, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Department of Plant Biology and Pathology. GSPC. 2002. Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. Montreal: Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Hendricks, D.R. 1995. Metasequoia Depression, Sex, and Other Useful Information. Landscape Plant News 6(2): 7–10. Hendricks, D. and P. Sondergaard. 1998. Metasequoia glyptostroboides—50 years out of China. Observations from the United States and Denmark. Dansk Dendrologisk Arsskrift 6: 6–24. Hsueh, C.-J. 1985. Reminiscences of Collecting the Type Specimens of Metasequoia glyptostroboides. Arnoldia 45(4): 10–18. Hu, H.H. 1948. How Metasequoia, the “living fossil” was discovered in China. Journal of the New York Botanical Garden 49(585): 201–207. IUCN. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.1. Retrieved October 12, 2009, from www. iucnredlist.org Kuser, J.E., D.L.Sheely, and D.R. Hendricks. 1997. Genetic Variation in Two ex situ Collections of the Rare Metasequoia glyptostroboides (Cupressaceae). Silvae Genetica 46(5): 258–264. Kuser, J. 1983. Inbreeding Depression in Metasequoia. Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 64: 475–481. Leng, Q. et.al. 2007. Database of Native Metasequoia glyptostroboides Trees in China Based on New Census Surveys and Expeditions. Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 48(2): 185–233. LePage, B.A., C.J. Williams, and H. Yang. 2005. The Geobiology and Ecology of Metasequoia. Springer. Li, M. 2009, November 1. Pers. comm. Li, X.-D., H.-W. Huang, and J.-Q. Li. 2003. Genetic diversity of the relict plant Metasequoia glyptostroboides. Biodiversity Science 11: 100–108. Ma, J. 2003. On the unsolved mystery of Metasequioa. Acta Botanica Yunnanica (25)2: 155–172. Ma, J. 2003. The Chronology of the “Living Fossil” Metasequoia glyptostroboides (Taxodiaceae): A Review (1943–2003). Harvard Papers in Botany 8(1): 9–18. Ma, J. 2002. The History of the Discovery and Initial Seed Dissemination of the Metasequoia glyptostroboides, A “Living Fossil”. Aliso 21(2): 65–75. Ma, J. and G. Shao. 2003. Rediscovery of the “first collection” of the ‘Living Fossil’, Metasequoia glyptostroboides. Taxon 52(3): 585–588. Merrill, E.D. 1998–1999. Another Living Fossil Comes to the Arnold Arboretum. Arnoldia 58–59(4-1): 17–19. Sand, S. 1992. The Dawn Redwood. American Horticulturist 71(10): 40–44. Wyman, D. 1968. Metasequoia After Twenty Years in Cultivation. Arnoldia 28(10–11): 113–122. Greg Payton is the Plant Records Specialist at the Dawes Arboretum in Newark, Ohio.
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