Autumn Conifers

Image by Aliriza Gorji, Unsplash

Autumn colours are bursting forth in our forests, parks and roadside verges – a feast for the eyes before the onset of winter. Most of the trees dropping their leaves are broadleaved – the oaks and ashes, beeches, hornbeams and so on. But did you know that a few conifer species also shed their ‘leaves’ in autumn after a display of beautiful colour? The larches are the main group whose needles turn orange and yellow before dropping each autumn. Another is the Dawn Redwood or Metasequoia glyptostroboides. Trying saying that after a couple of glasses of wine - or even before!

We saw this one last weekend at Cambridge Botanical Garden. It’s smaller than the other redwoods but can still reach over 50m or 165 feet, roughly the height of Nelson’s Column.

A curious fact I’ve discovered about the dawn redwood is that it’s one of a handful of examples of a living plant first known as a fossil. Its fossil was named and described in 1941 and living specimens were later found in China in 1944.

See if you can spot any deciduous conifers this autumn, alongside all the other old favourites.