Metasequoia Avenue

It is a living fossil under which dinosaurs once roamed: Metasequoia (also known as Chinese redwood). A living exemplar was found in China in the 1940s. Mainau Island received its first exemplar just ten years later from the Royal Botanic Gardens “Kew Gardens” in Richmond, Great Britain. It was then just 30 cm tall. The tree thrived so well in its new home on the Flower Island that another 51 metasequoias were raised from cuttings taken from this mother plant. Today, more than half a century later, they are an impressive sight grandly lining the visitors’ path to the Butterfly House. They provide welcoming shade on hot days and are a fresh green in spring turning coppery in autumn – the Metasequoia Avenue is a place to linger and reflect for a moment.

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Rothaus-Seeterrassen restaurant

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• 12

Mainau Children’s Land

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