Metasequoian.
/ˌmɛtəsᵻˈkwɔɪə/, U.S. /ˈˌmɛdəsəˈk(w)ɔɪə/ A genus of deciduous coniferous trees of the family Taxodiaceae, known only from fossil remains until a living species was discovered in the Szechuan province of China in 1945. Also metasequoia: a member of this genus; esp. the single living member, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, native to China but now widely popular as a specimen tree (also called dawn redwood, water fir).
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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > conifers > [noun] > other conifers
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Metasequoia1941
1941 S. Miki in Japanese Jrnl. Bot. 11 261 So it is sure that the remains belong to Taxodiaceae, but as the characters do not harmonize with those of the living forms, a new genus Metasequoia is established.
1947 Ecol. Monogr. 17 145/2 Occurrence of fossil remains resembling this living Chinese tree, assigned to the genus Metasequoia in a paper by Cheng and Hu not yet printed, has been reported from Eocene deposits of Greenland, Spitzbergen and Alaska.
1950 Ecology 31 262/2 The general region within which lies the home of Metasequoia is a mountainous tableland cut by deep valleys, southeast of the Yangtze River.
1960 Times 19 Sept. 5/3 The ‘living fossil’ tree, Metasequoia.
1971 Country Life 2 Sept. 553/3 This border has a backing of large shrubs that include bamboos..and is dominated by the metasequoia.
1994 Beautiful Brit. Columbia Summer 20/1 (caption) The Eocene fossils around Princeton show metasequoia, blackberry, spruce, gingko and apple trees.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1941