AusBonsai

Just thought I'd put up some info for those interested in these species.
I have a small passion for them so want to share.

I have collected T seed from a number of places and have found that even with 4 or 5 large established trees to fertilize each other the strike rate out of a cone is say 1 in 8.

The first two pics (taken today) are of seed collected from T. distichum.
These trees are one week short of one year and have just started the second years growth cycle.
The skinny one is 80cm (31.5") tall in the first 9 months from seed. The second pic is also the same age and from the same trees seed.
Number one shed its leaves by mid winter, number two is still holding onto it first years growth.
So I have concluded that number one is true Tax D, and number two is a cross with Mucronatum (two possible fertilizers about 2-3 hundred metres away)
I will see/watch the shed/regrowth habit next year just to see if it is a juvenile thing.
I love this stuff!
Then the next pics are of very distant cousin Metasequoia, the green one in the black tub is 4 yold, the second pic is my bragging one, I picked two of these up in a recent trip to Tas, M. Gold Rush, gold/yellow leaves. The reason why there is a lot of diff in foliage growth is that Tas has been colder than Melbourne.
I will repot and top cut the two (GR) I picked up and post new pics in a few months.

Good for you Ziggy, interesting stuff.
I was pretty excited recently when I discovered a Mucronatum on a suburban street here in Brisbane. I've been growing distichum for a long time and they are thoroughly deciduous here. So quite a surprise to find the mucronatum in full leaf through winter. Rest assured I now have many cuttings just getting set for a spring run.
I was in the Botanic gardens today and they have a very nice example of metasequoia just leafing out. Hard to pick the difference at this point with a distichum. That gold rush sounds a treat.
While there I also found a very interesting conifer - called a Chilean Plum Yew - long lived, tall and heavy tree, small leaves like a Podocarpus and of the same family. Must go back at seed time.
Cheers