Living Fossils of the Tree World

“Living fossils” generally refer to those taxa (organisms of a named lineage) that are alive today, have been documented in the fossil record for an unusually long time, and have seemingly experienced little change over time. At Hoyt Arboretum, we have several tree species considered to be “living fossils.” Some are well-known plants that simply appear to be morphologically unchanged for a very long time and are recognized from the wild or cultivated. Others were thought to be extinct and known only from the fossil record, until living populations were (re-)discovered by scientists. Come prepared to walk as we visit many of these distinctive trees.