That's a pretty cool-looking tree. Personally, I expect ancient trees looked like the ones in the Flintstones cartoon. :)

Nothing new. Some of the earliest tree fossils go back to 400 million years ago. ;-)

https://treescharlotte.org/tree-education/a-brief-history-of-trees:

OMG, always been interested in paleobotany, and my yard reflects it..., but NOT quite this ANCIENT. I have an obsession with with lots of plants, including the paleo plants, thus the; Araucaria, Cephalotaxus, Gingko, Metasequoia, Cycads, Magnolias, Podocarpus, tree ferns, in my collection. But as in the modern world, the angiosperms dominate my tropical collection; palms, cacti, bromeliads, aroids, ficus, Dracaena.

41 North, as my Cephalotaxus fortunei has slowly grown, it is looking increasingly prehistoric. I'll try to take a pic soon.

Here's a interesting ancient tree -- giant club moss.

https://carmichaelscabinetofcuriosities.blogspot.com/2010/05/figure-i-highly-technical-diagram-of.html

And some interesting info on david's plum yew.

https://arboretum.harvard.edu/stories/cephalotaxus-the-plum-yews/

When I first saw Cephalotaxus at a NJ Botanical Garden, decades ago, it really reminded me of a Sago cycad. And as deer resistant as they ARE, mine have still be trimmed, that's why I grow LOTS of cycads, NEVER TOUCHED.

41 North, nice collection there, maybe you can name each of them for us?

beng, thanks for posting the informative articles, I didn't realize there were that many different species (up to 12?) of Cephalotaxus. The Dawes Arboretum has more than a dozen varieties of C. harringtonia, as well as C. fortunei and C sinensis. I don't have any first hand experience with any of them, but C. harringtonia is apparently hardy in my area (at least in sheltered locations). Here are a couple photos of a specimen at Nichols Arboretum in Ann Arbor

Cunninghamia shouldn't be overlooked in the discussion of ancient trees. This one is surviving in a northern Detroit suburb

Forestfarm has an interesting, small spreading plum yew -- zone6.

https://www.forestfarm.com/cephalotaxus-harringtonia-duke-gardens-ceha061.html

Also has an erect one.

https://www.forestfarm.com/cephalotaxus-harringtonia-fastigiata-ceha196.html

Arbordave, the cycads are mostly Cycas revoluta, Japanese Sago Palm. They are common for a reason, robust and fairly cold tolerant for a cycad. Mine still have to get protected (garage) from mid December into much of February, this season though was really, really mild. I also grow Dioon edule, also fairly cold hardy. There is also an Encephalartos about, also a cold hardy one. Rest are all palms (so modern plants by comparison). OMG, palms are usually 100% deer proof for him, this past Fall they started eating the Chinese fans and Lady palm (Rhapis excelsa), before the weather was even chill, weird. I tried the native to Florida Coontie (a Zamia) but that one just like its more tropical cousin (Cardboard palm) does not work at all for me, prone to mealy bugs.

Just be careful with 'Duke Gardens'. That was the most agonizingly slow growing conifer I ever planted.

This is the fastest growing conifer, Dawn Redwood (Metasequioa), I have Taxodium too (bald Cypress), but I LOVE THESE more. I love their fall coloration and they also still in green leaf longer. Taxodium probably better though with extreme HEAT and doughty conditions, think the Metasequoia may prefer somewhat more coastal/less extreme/reliability wet climates.

41 North, Taxodium and DR color at about the same time (and same color) on my lot, a bit later than most other trees.

I was able to view some nice plant at the Omaha conservatory, end of 2021.

Thought I'd post some of them for those that appreciate.

Asparagus Densiflorus: (Foxtail Fern).

Dioon Spinulosum: (Giant Dioon).

Podocarpus Macrophyllus 'Maki'

Couldn't get at the tags on some of these: Palm?

Possibly Afrocarpus Gracilior: (?) (in there somewhere) :-)

Polyalthia Longifolia:

;;;

Bill, what in the world is that silvery "tree" in your 3rd pic? Looks like a fake aluminum tree...

Not sure...we were there in early December, so they had decorations up and trains running around the place for the holidays.

Could've been a deciduous tree of some sort? Same tree to the right.

As an aside: It was Omaha NE, where the Union pacific built west to meet the Central pacific coming east from California, so Trains are a heritage to remember around there.

Not sure what kind of ferns those are in the background.

Bronx Botanical always used to have trains going through one of their conservatories for the Holidays. Probably still do. I guess they do this all over to bring in the non plant people, those do exist, so I've heard.

Another ancient tree, Wollemia, in the Conservatory at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens (Ann Arbor)

A member of the ancient clubmoss family, "ground pine" (Dendrolycopodium obscurum) can almost look like a miniature prehistoric forest when viewed at ground level

The ground pine is really cool dave!

Here's one I don't see very often, I photographed at the 'Peace Gardens' (7-22-2020), an international area sandwiched between North Dakota and Canada.

It was sitting in the corner of the cactus conservatory located on the grounds there.

Araucaria Bidwillii hook:

eta: Some reading about this tree: https://www.dendrology.org

Here is an article about the Wollemia

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/dinosaur-evergreens-thought-extinct-for-2mil-years-discovered-by-park-ranger-90-tree-grove-is-find-of-the-century/

Bill, I grow A. bidwillii as a container plant, I protect in the garage in the winter. A. araucaria is in the ground.

Interesting 41.

Such closely related trees with a whole hardiness zone separating them.

Beng, that looks like a cycad to me, not any tree fern. Yes, looks prehistoric, even among the cycads, some are more "primitive" than others. But all these current modern "primitives" survivors of the prehistoric past are NOT the same as their ancestors (as I understand it to be true). Modern ginkgos are not the same as their ancient ancestors, but must have gotten something right!