The Dawn Redwood of Winterthur

This tree grew a trunk 556 centimetres round in under eighty years. It cannot be older than that: the dawn redwood was known to botanists only as a fossil until the 1940s, when living trees were found in central China, and seed first reached gardens outside China in 1948. Every dawn redwood in America dates from then or later. The Delaware Forest Service ranks this one first in the state: 33.5 metres tall, a crown averaging about 22 metres across, and that trunk. It holds up against the best we map anywhere. The dawn redwood by the pond in Bad Homburg, Germany, is a little thicker at 580 centimetres but stands 28 metres, so this one is more than five metres taller. Frankfurt's botanical garden tree measures 572 round. The Hoyt Arboretum tree in Portland, Oregon, is 329. It stands on the Winterthur estate, the museum and garden about eight kilometres northwest of downtown Wilmington, outside the city. Entry is paid. About 400 metres away on the same grounds is Delaware's champion tulip tree, 50.9 metres tall, so one visit takes in two state records. The register ranked it in November 2024, and a dated observation at the spot within the last four years confirms it was alive then. What we do not know is its planting year. If you know it, tell us. And come in late autumn, when this conifer turns rust and drops every needle.