Metasequoia was first described as a fossil from the Mesozoic Era by Shigeru Miki in 1941, but in 1944, a small stand of an unidentified tree species was discovered in China in Modaoxi (presently, Moudao,) in Lichuan County, Hubei by Zhan Wang. Metasequoia has experienced morphological stasis for the past 65 million years, meaning the modern Metasequoia glyptostroboides is identical to its late Cretaceous ancestors. The cones are globose to ovoid, 0.6 to 1.0 inches (1.5 - 2.5 cm) in diameter with 16 to 28 scales, arranged in opposite pairs in four rows, each pair at right angles to the adjacent pair they mature in about 8 to 9 months after pollination. The pollen cones are 0.25 inch (6 mm) long, produced on long spikes in early spring they are only produced on trees growing in regions with hot summers. The leaves are opposite, 0.4 to 1.25 inches (1 – 3 cm) long, and bright fresh green, turning a foxy red-brown in fall. Metasequoia glyptostroboides leaves Dawn redwood foliage, note opposite arrangement. It is a fast-growing tree to 130 to 150 feet (40 – 45 m) tall and 6 feet (2 m) in trunk diameter in cultivation so far (with the potential to grow to even greater heights). While the bark and foliage are similar to another closely related redwood genus Sequoia, Metasequoia differs from the California redwood in that it is deciduous like Taxodium distichum (bald cypress), and like that species, older specimens form wide buttresses on the lower trunk.

Before its discovery, the taxon was believed to have become extinct during the Miocene when it was discovered extant, it was heralded as a 'living fossil.' The trees are well known from late Cretaceous to Miocene strata, but no fossils are known after that. Large petrified trunks and stumps of the extinct Metasequoia occidentalis (sometimes identified as Sequoia occidentalis) also make up the major portion of Tertiary fossil plant material in the badlands of western North Dakota in the United States. It is also hypothesized that the change from evergreen to deciduous habit occurred before colonizing the high latitudes and was the reason Metasequoia was dominant in the north. During three months in the summer, the sun would shine continuously, while three months of the winter would be complete darkness. Given that the high latitudes in this period were warm and tropical, it is hypothesized that the deciduous habit evolved in response to the unusual light availability patterns, not to major seasonal variations in temperature. Metasequoia was likely deciduous by this time. During the Paleocene and Eocene, extensive forests of Metasequoia occurred as far north as Strathcona Fiord on Ellesmere Island and sites on Axel Heiberg Island (northern Canada) at around 80° N latitude. Metasequoia redwood fossils are known from many areas in the Northern Hemisphere more than 20 fossil species have been named (some were even identified as the genus Sequoia), but are considered as just three species, M. Dawn redwood on the campus of San Jose State University The other Sequoioideae and several other genera have been transferred from the former Taxodiaceae family to Cupressaceae based on DNA analysis. Although Metasequoia glyptostroboides is the only living species in its genus, three fossil species are known, as well. Together with Sequoia sempervirens (coast redwood) and Sequoiadendron giganteum (giant sequoia) of California, Metasequoia is classified in the Cupressaceae subfamily Sequoioideae. Since that tree's rediscovery in 1944, the dawn redwood has become a popular ornamental. Local villagers refer to the original tree from which most others derive as Shui-sa, or 'water fir', which is part of a local shrine. Although the least tall of the redwoods, it grows to at least 200 feet (60 meters) in height. It is native to the Sichuan–Hubei region of China. Metasequoia(dawn redwood) is a fast-growing, deciduous tree, and the sole living species, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, is one of three species of conifers known as redwoods. Additions to the International Conifer Register.

Metasequoia north light