ASAD ULLAH AND KHAN (2015), FUUAST J. BIOL., 5(1): 179-181 SHORT COMMUNICATION METASEQUOIA GLYPTOSTROBOIDES HU & CHENG OF TAXODIACEAE: NEWLY RECORDED ENDANGERED CONIFER TO THE FLORA OF PAKISTAN ASAD ULLAH * AND RAEES KHAN Centre of Plant Biodiversity, University of Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Peshawar, Pakistan * Corresponding author E. mail: asadbotanist@yahoo.com Abstract The Metasequoia glyptostroboides Hu & Cheng is reported for the first time as a new record to the Flora of Pakistan from University of Peshawar Botanical Garden. Metasequoia glyptostroboides Hu & Cheng is an endangered species 50 m long beautiful monoecious, deciduous tree with ascending branches and narrowly conical crown. Botanical nomenclature, citation, common name, complete illustration, description, flowering period, altitude, voucher specimens numbers, photographs, coordinates and Geographic (GPS) position for this newly reported species has been presented. This conifer species is a new record from Pakistan. Introduction A single species of genus Metasequoia and family Taxodiaceae commonly known as water fir, dawn red wood, or Chinese red wood, which is a deciduous conifer and Metasequoia glyptostroboides Hu & Cheng is ranked as an endangered species. According to Chu & Cooper (1950) and Fu & Jin (1992) it is confined to Western part of Hubei, Eastern Sichuan and Northern Hunan provinces of central China covering a small geographical range. As stated by Hu and Cheng (1948) Metasequoia glyptostroboides was a famous discovery of 20 th century and it is considered as a living fossil. Due to the fragile conservation status of M. glyptostroboides since 1940s it is propagated and distributed around the world and six (6) million tress are distributed in around 50 countries of the world. According to Li et al. (2012) still 90% of the wildly growing tress i.e. 5000 individuals are growing in a radius of 500 km 2 Lichuan city, Zhonglu town and Hubei province of China. The family Taxodiaceae is represented by 10 genera and 16 species throughout the world, while in Pakistan previously it was represented by one genus (Taxodium) and one species (T. mucronatum) (Nasir and Ali, 1987). With the addition of this newly reported species i.e. Metasequoia glyptostroboides Hu & Cheng the family Taxodiaceae has now 2 genera and 2 species in Pakistan. Materials and Methods This newly reported conifer species i.e. Metasequoia glyptostroboides Hu & Cheng was collected for the first time during June 2014 from University of Peshawar Botanical Garden (UPBG). The shoots and other necessary parts were collected. The species was photographed and the coordinates were also taken with the help of Garmin Etrex GPS (Made in USA). The collected parts were pressed, properly dried and mounted on standard herbarium sheets. Family Taxodiaceae (Nasir and Ali, 1987) in Flora of Pakistan was consulted for taxonomic information and Phytogeographical distribution of the species. Identification was carried out with the help of Flora of China (Shui Shan in FOC (4) at Page 60). Illustration for the species was drawn after studying description in Flora of China. The voucher specimen was deposited in the Herbarium of Centre of Plant Biodiversity and Botanical Garden, University of Peshawar (UPBG). Results and Discussion Metasequoia glyptostroboides Hu & Cheng (Taxodiaceae) is an endangered, deciduous tree native to China is a famous ‘‘living fossil’’. During research studies carried out in University of Peshawar Botanical Garden, which is situated in District Nowshera and lies between 71 0 43 / E to 71 0 44 / E longitudes and 34 0 15 / N to 34 0 31 / N latitudes, at an altitude of 290 msl this newly reported conifer species was collected and identified. Presently this species occurs in more than 50 countries due the efforts for its conservation. It was distributed in Northern hemisphere, east and middle Eurasia and north America according to fossil studies and it was considered as extinct for millions of years before it was discovered in 1940s. According to Li et al. (2012) it has now a wider Phytogeographical range of distribution.