Side by side
Swamp cypress or dawn redwood? How to tell them apart
Taxodium distichum · Metasequoia glyptostroboides
How to tell them apart – swamp cypress: needles and side shoots are alternate rather than opposite; dawn redwood: needles and side shoots are opposite.
How do you recognise them?
- Swamp cypress
- Deciduous conifer with soft, alternate needles; near water often with ‘knees’.
- Compared with dawn redwood: needles and side shoots are alternate rather than opposite.
- Dawn redwood
- Soft needles in two rows that fall in autumn together with the side shoots; everything is opposite.
- Compared with swamp cypress: needles and side shoots are opposite.
| Swamp cypress | Dawn redwood | |
|---|---|---|
| Needles | Needles 1–2 cm, flat, soft, alternate in two rows on side shoots that fall with them in autumn. Autumn colour coppery brown. | Needles 1–3 cm, flat, soft and light green, opposite in two rows on short side shoots. Russet-brown in autumn. |
| Flowering | – | – |
| Cones and seeds | Round cones 2–3 cm, almost stalkless. | Round cones 1.5–2.5 cm on a long stalk. |
| Bark | Red-brown, fibrous; the base of the trunk is often swollen. | Orange- to red-brown, fibrous; the trunk has deep flutes and ‘armpits’ beneath the branches. |
| Shape and height | Conifer, 20–35 m | Conifer, 20–35 m |
| Site | Full sun, any garden soil, moist to wet | Full sun, any garden soil, moist to wet |
| Native to Belgium | No, planted | No, planted |
| Good for bees, butterflies and birds | Little | Little |
| Poisonous to people and pets | Not known to be poisonous | Not known to be poisonous |
| Pruning months | November–March | November–March |
What does it mean for your garden?
- Swamp cypress (20–35 m) and dawn redwood (20–35 m) both grow into large trees: too big for an ordinary garden, but fine in a large garden, a park or a meadow.
Read on
- Plant profile: Swamp cypress
- Plant profile: Dawn redwood
- Swamp cypress: when and how to prune
- Dawn redwood: when and how to prune
- Identification key: the question that separates them
Also looks like
Identify by feature
This comparison is compiled from the Bladwijzer species pages.