MA Jin-Shuang
Plant Diversity. 2003, 25(02): 1-3.
Since the "Living Fossil" was discovered from central China in 1940s, the story of Metasequoia (also known as dawn redwood, Chinese redwood, and water fir in English), has been told over and again around the globe. While there's only one true account, the varied considerably. Among the arguments, who discovered the "Living Fossil"first, especially in China, and who introduced the seeds into USA, especially in the United States, have been most hotly debated in the past more than half century. Out of more than 100 documents and publications collected by the current author, documents by Fulling (1976), Wang (1981), Silverman (1990), Wang (汪国权1999), Shao et al (2000) were the most insightful in regards to these issues. Based on the review of the available resources, the following points have been summarized.
