206 



PALEOBOTANY 



mcnt and associates, for it was growing 

 in a cultivated vallev from wliich all of 

 the original forest had been whollv re- 

 moved. So we continued on for two 

 more days, tr)ing days with cold fogs 

 in the mountains, almost constant 

 rains, and with inadequate accommo- 

 dations for foreigners. Finally at Shui- 

 hsa-pa, some 115 miles south of Wan 

 Hsien and across a province boundary 

 into Mupeh, we found small groves of 

 dawn redwoods in ravines, associated 

 with deciduous hardwoods. It was 

 these trees which I had crossed the 

 Pacific and much of China to see, so 

 that I might reconstruct and visualize 

 the forests of ages past. And I was not 

 disappointed. Growing beside the 

 dawn rcdwods in the vallev at Shui-hsa- 

 pa, at an altitude of about 4,000 feet, 

 were birches, chestnuts, sweet gums, 

 beeches, oaks, and at least one large 

 katsura. The Arcto-Tertiary Flora was 

 growing there before me, with essen- 

 tially the same membership as the 

 group which had its origin to the north 

 millions of vears before, and which 

 had migrated southward down both 

 sides of the Pacific. Forests living else- 

 where at middle latitudes today in- 

 clude many hardwood members of the 

 Arcto-Tertiary Flora. But these valleys 



in central China are the only place 

 where the dawn redwood, Metase- 

 quoia, is known to have survived with 

 them. 



We may wonder how long this tree, 

 whose history goes back for a hundred 

 millions years at least, will continue to 

 live in these remote vallevs of central 

 China. This is a land of need; fuel and 

 timbers are scarce; land must be cleared 

 for agriculture. Just before our arrival, 

 two of the finest trees at Shui-hsa-pa 

 had been cut down. Others will follow, 

 unless proper steps are taken. 



It is gratifying to record the action 

 being taken by the Chinese to meet 

 this problem of conserving one of the 

 most beautiful and interesting trees in 

 the world. A Metasequoia Conserva- 

 tion Committee has been organized, 

 whose membership includes several of 

 the foremost statesmen and scholars of 

 China. Like the Save-the-Redwoods 

 League, under whose auspices my trip 

 was made, this Committee is seeking 

 to preserve some of the finest groves 

 for all time. To this committee go the 

 best wishes of all Americans, especiallv 

 those of us who may look out across 

 the Pacific, knowing that the scientific 

 problems and the future needs of Asia 

 are essentially the same as our own. 



QUESTIONS 



1. Recount the three main events in the 

 discovery and recognition of Metase- 

 quoia. 



2. What are some of the hardwood 



species associated with Metasequoia in 

 its native habitat? 



3. Does the Metasequoia story have any 

 lesson in it for incautious scientists 

 and if so, what might the lesson be? 



