Metasequoia glyptostroboides 'Ogon' is a smaller-statured dawn redwood with gold tints to the foliage. It is suitable for small to mid-sized home landscapes, where a full-size tree would be overwhelming.

The genus Metasequoia is derived from the Greek meta(with) and Sequoia. It shares the same plant family as the bald cypress — as well as its deciduous foliage (unusual in conifers). This tree was first placed in the genus Taxites, based upon the fossil record (ergo the common name dawn redwood — as in "the dawn of time"). Living plants were not found until 1941 in western China. Seeds and herbarium specimens were not collected until 1947, after the cessation of World War II, and did not make their way outside China until 1948, when one seed lot was received by the Arnold Arboretum. Seeds and seedlings from this lot were distributed by the Arnold to botanic gardens and arboreta around the world and formed the extent of plants in cultivation up to the 1990s.It was late in the twentieth century when plant propagators and horticulturists began to notice the very low rate of seed fertility, and hypothesized that inbreeding depression might be responsible. To test this hypothesis, a plant collecting trip returned to China and collected germplasm from several plant populations. Using this new germplasm, the survival of the species in cultivation appears to be ensured.