Sequoioid ID: Foliage

Having taken loads of pics of the conifers at Wisley, here are some that show the differences between Sequoia, Sequoiadendron and Metasequoia. As far as needles go, it's pretty easy to tell Sequoiadendron apart from the other three:


Needles lying flat against the branches, very similar to Halocarpus or a cypress.

Metasequoia is deciduous (so it's really easy to identify in the spring and autumn!), and it has very soft needles that curl downwards slightly:


If you like plants in your garden that you can touch, and if you have room for a large conifer, go for one of these. I sometimes find it a bit difficult to tell the difference between Metasequoia and Taxodium distichum, both of which are rather popular ornamental trees, but I've found as a general rule that Taxodium needles are shorter and straighter than Metasequoia.

Then to confuse matters is Sequoia itself, which has shorter straighter needles than Metqsequoia!


But it does have these little pale nodes, where the new growth branches out. And the needles are a bit closer together.

The really interesting bit comes when you look at the cones though. Watch this space.