ON THE PRODUCTION OF SEED PROGENY OF METASEQUOIA GLYPTOSTROBOIDES HU ET W. C. CHENG (TAXODIACEAE) IN ST. PETERSBURG

Abstract

Metasequoia glyptostroboides Hu et W.C. Cheng has been grown in the Peter the Great Botanical Garden of the BIN RAS since 1952, where it was first introduced into cultivation in Russia. It is the most winter-hardy representative of the Taxodiaceae family suitable for open field culture in St. Petersburg. The best specimens reached 14.4 m in height with a trunk diameter of 29 cm at the age of 69 years. In 2018, seed production was recorded for the first time. Seed offspring were obtained in 2020. In the conditions of the warming of the climate of St. Petersburg in the first two decades of the 21st century, there is a surge in the generative ability of woody exotics, an increasing number of trees and shrubs are beginning to bear fruits and seeds.