Bailey Arboretum, Nassau County

[Erik Danielsen]

Bailey Arboretum, right around the corner from the spectacular Shu Swamp Preserve on Long Island, has one particular dendromorphometric claim to fame- the "world's largest Dawn Redwood." This claim accounts only for girth, as far as I can tell (though they don't list it), and is supposedly vetted by some international organization dedicated to Dawn Redwoods. Apparently the Bailey Arboretum received some of the first metasequoia seeds to arrive in the US. Now there are a couple dozen mature specimens on the property.

The 100' specimen I measured in Green-Wood Cemetery stood as the tallest Dawn Redwood measured in NYS so far and had a respectable girth itself, so I looked forward to seeing how the specimens at Bailey would compare. I didn't measure any girths (I feel odd doing tapewraps in an arboretum with horticultural workers all over the place) but did measure height for several Metasequoias and other trees as well. It's a very nice arboretum. The "largest" Dawn Redwood, I skipped- it's just a middling tree with an enormously flared base. Not my criteria for an excitingly big tree. Instead, I sought out some that existed in competition that might drive height. Numbers and pictures can say the rest.

One of the flaring Dawn Redwoods, not the "largest" though. Fairly tall at 113.5

Dawn Redwood tallest pair part of a group at the edge of a fully forested area
127.7
124.8
113.5
107.7
101.1
Sawara Cypress
99
Copper Beech
103.1
Florida Torreya this one was a real surprise! Good mass in the trunk.
53.6
Norway Spruce
110.7
White Pine
109.7
105.8
103.4
Douglas Fir
91.5
Eastern Hemlock
87.3

The tallest Dawn Redwood is center in this photo

[sradivoy]

For me the Dawn Redwood is the most beautiful species within the redwood family. I wouldn't be surprised if one day, along with the Norway spruce, the Dawn will reach upwards of 200ft right here in the states.

[Matt Markworth]

Erik,

Wow, those are some tall dawn redwoods! I wonder what's the tallest one we've measured, maybe Brian can weigh in. Dawn Redwood would be a good candidate to have it's own database - it's one of those species that seems to really generate interest and capture the imagination.

Matt

[Will Blozan]

Scott Wade has one over 135' from what I recall. Planted in a tight grove I have no doubt they could reach 200'. There have got to be bigger ones in the Orient.

[tsharp]

Erik, Will, NTS:
Dawn Redwood, Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square - 135.9' measured by Scott Wade 2012. I believe I just remeasured this same tree last week at slightly over 140'. I did not record the tag number and I do not have access to my notes this weekend.

[Erik Danielsen]

What I've read suggests certain specimens in china are around 200', but some expect them to grow as well or better in parts of the eastern US. It's incredible how tall they've gotten so swiftly! No specimens in the US are much over 60 years old. A database for the species would be great, especially as I don't believe American Forest tracks it (as an ornamental, like Ginkgo). In this case we'd be able to correlate quite tightly with age and other growing conditions.

[bbeduhn]

When they get older, dawn redwoods get reiterations. They grow naturally in, last I read, just seven coves in one province of China. They certainly have the potential for 200 feet. We'll have to wait and see if they make it.

Some of the tallest specimens I've found:

location height date
TGIF by Biltmore Estate 128.6' late 2013
Biltmore , garden 126.7' 2/2014
Biltmore, ticket office grove 124.8' 2/2014
WNC Arboretum 124.1' 3/2014
WNC Arboretum 123.5' 3/2014

I kept my measurements in this link; http://www.ents-bbs.org/viewtopic.php?f ... wn+redwood

The other spots that may have 130's are at Colonial Williamsburg at the College of William and Mary and at Princeton. I don't believe these have ever been measured with sin/sin but they have been measured at some point, according to internet posts. Asheville is a hot spot, having dozens over 100', but the Northeast may be even better growing for metasequoias.

[sradivoy]

There's a preserve called Crescent Ridge in N.C. dedicated to the species that isn't open to the public yet that looks interesting: http://www.dawnredwood.org/ABOUT.htm

[George Fieo]

NTS,

Delaware has a 160' Metasequoia glyptostroboides located at the bottom of a somewhat forested slope at the entrance to the Mt Cuba Center. I took a crude measuremet, straight- up laser shot from the road and got a hit of 55yds. At that time, late fall of 2014, the tree was listed at 161'. I estimated that I was 3-4' below the base of the tree which would have put the height roughly at 161'. Who ever measured this tree first must have used the sign method. Tape drop highly doubtful. I would have normally measured this tree properly but the center was closed for the season and there is nowhere safe to pull off the road. I've done a recent online search of this tree and its now listed at 121'. It's definatly not and whomever listed the tree must have thought it as a typo. I'll make it a point to accurately measure this tree this year.

George

[bbeduhn]

What?! A 160' Metasequoia? Damn! It's most certainly under 70 years old. I doubt it was one of the first ones planted if it's in a forested area. The first ones went to arboretums and a handful of estates. It's likely under 60 years old.

The 99' sawara is a nice find as well. I've found it to 98' in NC. There are almost certainly taller individuals but that's a solid find.