Dawn Redwood

Metasequoia glyptostroboides

“Known only from fossils until 1944. Still standing.”

Western botanists knew this tree from 50-million-year-old fossils and assumed it was extinct. In 1944, a Chinese forester found a grove of them alive in a remote valley in Sichuan. It's the only deciduous redwood — in fall the needles turn orange-copper before dropping, then regrow impossibly fast the following spring. Hardy to Zone 4. Grows 3–5 feet per year when young. Plant a living fossil in your front yard.