Morgantown in Monongalia County, West Virginia — The American South (Appalachia)
Dawn Redwood
Photographed By Bradley Owen, April 30, 2021
1. Dawn Redwood Marker
This unusual tree is a dawn-redwood, Metascquoia glyptostroboides. Like larches and baldcypresses, dawn-redwoods are cone-bearing trees that shed their leaves in the fall.
Metasequoia was once thought to be an extinct genus of trees that had been ancestors of the giant sequoias and coast redwoods of California. The fossil record indicates that Metasequoia trees grew over a vast area 50 million years ago.
During World War II, a botanist discovered Metasequoia trees growing 100 feet tall in Szechuan Province, China. Word of the discovery of this “living fossil” reached America after the end of the war. The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University collected specimens in 1948, then distributed seedlings to other American botanical institutions.
Today, dawn-redwoods are available from many mail-order nurseries and some garden centers. People grow dawn-redwoods for their soft, deciduous foliage, rapid growth, unusual appearance, and interesting history.
Erected by West Virginia University Biology Department.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in
this page online
Location. 39° 38.789′ N, 79° 58.63′ W. Marker is in Morgantown, West Virginia, in Monongalia County. Marker can be reached from the intersection of Monongahela Boulevard (U.S. 19) and Evansdale Drive, on the right when traveling south. The marker is at the small visitor’s parking lot at the entrance to the Core Arboretum that can only be reached from the southbound lane. The marker is on the Guthrie Loop Trail. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Morgantown WV 26505, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Guthrie Loop Area (within shouting distance of this marker); Core Arboretum (within shouting distance of this marker); Liberty Island Tree (within shouting distance of this marker); a different marker also named Core Arboretum (within shouting distance of this marker); West Virginia University (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Veterans Memorial (about 600 feet away); Wagon Road (about 700 feet away); Sugar Maple (approx. 0.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Morgantown.
Photographed By Bradley Owen, April 30, 2021
2. Dawn Redwood Marker
Photographed By Bradley Owen, April 30, 2021
3. Dawn Redwood Marker
Marker along the Guthrie Loop Trail.
Photographed By Bradley Owen, April 30, 2021
4. Additional Marker Along The Guthrie Loop Trail
Credits. This page was last revised on May 16, 2021. It was originally submitted on May 13, 2021, by Bradley Owen of Morgantown, West Virginia. This page has been viewed 177 times since then and 41 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on May 13, 2021, by Bradley Owen of Morgantown, West Virginia. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
