Metasequoia [SEP] parent taxon
. Since its rediscovery in 1944, the dawn redwood has become a popular ornamental, with examples found in various parks in a variety of countries.
Together with "Sequoia sempervirens" (coast redwood) and "Sequoiadendron giganteum" (giant sequoia) of California, "Metasequoia" is classified in the Cupressaceae subfamily Sequoioideae. "M. glyptostroboides" is the only living species in its genus, but three fossil species are known. Sequoioideae and several other genera have been transferred from the former family Taxodiaceae to Cupressaceae based on
and was the reason "Metasequoia" was dominant in the north.
Large petrified trunks and stumps of the extinct "Metasequoia occidentalis" (sometimes identified as "Sequoia occidentalis") also make up the major portion of Tertiary fossil plant material in the badlands of western North Dakota.
The trees are well known from late Cretaceous to Miocene strata, but no fossils are known after that. Before its discovery, the taxon was believed to have become extinct during the Miocene; when it was discovered extant, it was heralded