What is "metasequoia"

n. (taxlink Metasequioa genus noshow=1), the (vern: dawn redwood), a fast-growing deciduous conifer native to China.

n. large fast-growing Chinese monoecious tree having flat bright-green deciduous leaves and small globular cones; commonly cultivated in United States as an ornamental; known as a fossil before being discovered in China [syn: dawn redwood, Metasequoia glyptostrodoides]

Metasequoia (dawn redwood) is a fast-growing, deciduous tree, and the sole living species, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, is one of three species of conifers known as redwoods. It is native to Lichuan county in the Hubei province of China. Although the least tall of the redwoods, it grows to at least 200 feet (60 meters) in height. Local villagers refer to the original tree from which most others derive as Shui-sa, or "water fir", which is part of a local shrine. Since that tree's rediscovery in 1944, the dawn redwood has become a popular ornamental.

Together with Sequoia sempervirens (coast redwood) and Sequoiadendron giganteum (giant sequoia) of California, Metasequoia is classified in the Cupressaceae subfamily Sequoioideae. Although M. glyptostroboides is the only living species in its genus, three fossil species are known, as well. Sequoioideae and several other genera have been transferred from the former Taxodiaceae family to Cupressaceae based on DNA analysis.

Metasequoia is 3D polygon modeling software created by Osamu Mizuno for 3D computer graphics, frequently abbreviated as "Metaseq" or "Meta." It is a patch and poly modeler. Metasequoia is one of two 3D import formats for the software ComiPo, which creates drag and drop comics with 3D objects rendering them to look like 2D.

Version 4 provides 64 bit installation, armature, n-gon support, bridge, fill hole, fillet, ambient occlusion, measure length/angle/thickness, unit display, real time shadow, exports and imports fbx/ply, and imports dae. Version 3 provides 32 bit installation, modeler and uv painting, format used for ComiPo import.