This fossil plant is a leaf of the dawn redwood species Metasequoia occidentalis from Montana. The fossil sheet itself is about 77 mm long.


The Tree genus Metasequoia was until the discovery of a relict population in 1941 in China only known from fossil specimens. The  dawn redwood is a classical example of a living fossil.
The today living species Metasequoia glyptostroboides all the year green. The short branches with the nedels become red- brown when the fall in autumn.

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