Taxodium help needed!

[Glenda]

Hi people,

I have two taxodiums. One did not loose a single leaf this winter (or last year - have only had it 18 months), and is powering away and all the shoots look like normal taxodium shoots. The other, however, lost every leaf this winter (1st winter I have had it), and has only begun to shoot in the last 3 weeks. It has always had foliage a little different than the other - with the compound leaf being much shorter, but fatter. But the new shoots are really puzzling. Some look like the normal compound leaves, and others look nothing like taxodium foliage at all.

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Can anyone shed some light on what is happening here? Perhaps this one is a Montezuma cypress, and the other a plain old Swampy?
This strange one also seems to be developing a knee, I think.

Dscf0642.jpg

As always, any help will be greatly appreciated.

Glenda

[Jamie]

interesting glenda,

the top one doesnt look like taxodium at all. nor montezuma which was my first thought just reading then seeing the pic didnt look like it at all. the leaves actually look like that of podocarpus or close relative of podocarpus.
there doesnt seem to be any reason for it to have mutated grwoth either.

will be interested in seeing what others think too.

[Grant Bowie]

And the answer is:- metasequoia glyptostroboides (dawn redwood).

One is probably the Dawn redwood and the one that did not lose its leaves is probably a very juvenile swampy that just powered through winter.
As it gets older it will lose its leaves unless it is the Montezuma cypress.

Grant

[Glenda]

And the answer is:- metasequoia glyptostroboides (dawn redwood).

One is probably the Dawn redwood and the one that did not lose its leaves is probably a very juvenile swampy that just powered through winter.
As it gets older it will lose its leaves unless it is the Montezuma cypress.

Grant

I looked the metasequoia up on Google, and it does look very much like my tree. I was sold this one as a Swampy from the big green place that starts with B.

The other one was taken as a cutting 18 months ago - one of three cuttings and all of them struck, but I have given the other two away. The cutting was about 15 cm tall and about 1/2 cm diameter when I took it, and is now about 1m tall, and the base of the trunk about 3.5 cm wide. We get very little winter here, which may be why it didn't loose any leaves. We have had temperatures in the 30's already this month, but is a little cooler now.

Glenda

[Grant Bowie]

And the answer is:- metasequoia glyptostroboides (dawn redwood).

One is probably the Dawn redwood and the one that did not lose its leaves is probably a very juvenile swampy that just powered through winter.
As it gets older it will lose its leaves unless it is the Montezuma cypress.

Grant

I looked the metasequoia up on Google, and it does look very much like my tree. I was sold this one as a Swampy from the big green place that starts with B.

The other one was taken as a cutting 18 months ago - one of three cuttings and all of them struck, but I have given the other two away. The cutting was about 15 cm tall and about 1/2 cm diameter when I took it, and is now about 1m tall, and the base of the trunk about 3.5 cm wide. We get very little winter here, which may be why it didn't loose any leaves. We have had temperatures in the 30's already this month, but is a little cooler now.

Glenda

Unfortuneatly the two do get confused but once you know what you are looking at they look quite different. The bark is different as well, and the buds etc.

Grant

[Glenda]

Thanks Grant.

In rechecking the bark IS quite different from the other one, and the questionable tree does have its 'proper' looking leaves in pairs like the Dawn Redwood.
Does it need to stand in a tray of water like the Swampy? It is at present. What do I do to keep it healthy?

Glenda

[Grant Bowie]

Thanks Grant.

In rechecking the bark IS quite different from the other one, and the questionable tree does have its 'proper' looking leaves in pairs like the Dawn Redwood.
Does it need to stand in a tray of water like the Swampy? It is at present. What do I do to keep it healthy?

Glenda

They are almost interchangeable as bonsai although the Dawn redwood always will look looser and coarser.

I don't think they need to stay in water but it can help fatten them up.

Treat the same as a swampy is my guess but you and I live in extremely different climates.

Grant

[Fred]

Hi

Normally a Dawn Redwood leafs up much earlier in the Spring than the Swampy. My Redwood was in full leaf over 3 weeks ago. My Swampy's leaf buds are just breaking now.

A sure way to tell the difference is the Redwood has opposite leaves and the Swampy has alternate ones. Also if you look at the major woody roots and under the bark of the Redwood, it is very red.

According to Craig Coussins the Redwood has thinner needles.

I hope this helps.

Fred

[Glenda]

Hi

Normally a Dawn Redwood leafs up much earlier in the Spring than the Swampy. My Redwood was in full leaf over 3 weeks ago. My Swampy's leaf buds are just breaking now.

A sure way to tell the difference is the Redwood has opposite leaves and the Swampy has alternate ones. Also if you look at the major woody roots and under the bark of the Redwood, it is very red.

According to Craig Coussins the Redwood has thinner needles.

I hope this helps.

Fred

Hi Fred,

Our climate here is very different to yours, which could explain the difference. When I did some searching on the internet, one of the things I found out about the Dawn redwood is that it does loose every single leaf in winter, even in warmer climes and is often thought to be dead because of that habit - just as I did. It was without any leaves all 'winter' meaning it was leafless for only a few weeks (we have about 3 weeks of temperatures in the low 20's, and in all of recorded night temperatures it has NEVER dropped to 0 even at night. The coldest day temperature on record was 11.8). Swampys here in Mackay do not loose all their leaves, though some do loose quite a few.

The 'needles' on the Dawn redwood are longer and wider than the swampy, but the whole 'feather' on the swampy is 2 - 3 times as long, while the Dawn redwood would be twice as wide (if that makes sense). The 'feathers' look exactly like these from Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bald_ ... 2264px.jpg
Metasequoia glyptostroboides (Dawn Redwood)

Dawn Redwood foliage.jpg

Taxodium distichum (Swamp Cypress)