Tonight we have the magical tale of a very special tree that was believed extinct until it was found nestling in secluded valleys in deepest China. It is now thriving in arboreta and parks all over the world, where it is an interesting and much beloved specimen tree.

Things I love about the dawn redwood:

• It is very common in fossil records in the northern hemisphere, and the modern tree is indistinguishable from its fossilised ancestors
• It is a deciduous conifer, turning a foxy brown in summer before shedding all its needles
• Like its relative the swamp cypress, it grows in damp meadows and at the edges of rivers and puts up little snorkel roots to help itself breathe
• Its cones look completely different depending on where it is living
• It rejoices under the ridiculous botanical name of Metasequoia glyptostroboides, and if you told me that was the spell in Bedknobs and Broomsticks I would believe you

What an elegant, beautiful creature!