Torreya taxifolia   Gary A. Beluzo
  Jan 11, 2005 16:39 PST 
Hello ENTS!

Are you folks familiar with the alleged demise of Torreya taxifolia? Have
any ENTS folks see these trees, and if so, have you seen any adult specimens
in the past? I had never heard of this species.

Gary


"In the 1950s, Torreya taxifolia suffered a catastrophic decline, the
ultimate cause of which is still unexplained. By the mid-1960s, no large
adult specimens - which once measured more than a meter in circumference and
perhaps 20 meters tall - remained in the wild, felled by what seemed to be a
variety of fungal pathogens.

Today, the wild population persists as mere stump sprouts, along the
Apalachicola River of the Florida panhandle, cyclically dying back at the
sapling stage, such that seeds are rarely, if ever, produced. T. tax thus
joins American chestnut in maintaining only a juvenile and diminishing
presence in its current range."
RE: Back to the multi-stemmed giants   wad-@comcast.net
  Jan 12, 2005 03:51 PST 
Gary

I think you can buy that plant from Woodlanders in Aiken SC, but you have to be in state, as they are not allowed to ship endangered plants across state lines. I tried to get one from them for our collection, but no go!

Scott
RE: Back to the multi-stemmed giants   Willard Fell
  Jan 12, 2005 06:09 PST 
It is also known as the Florida Torreya and grows in a relatively
restricted habitat of deeply incised ravines on the east side of the
Appalachicola River in Liberty and Gadsden Counties in Florida and
Decatur County GA. There has been a good bit of research and trees have
been removed to remote sites to preserve them and study with limited
success. It is in the same family and occupies the same restricted range
of the Florida Yew, Taxus floridana (?) a relative of the Pacific Yew
that the cancer fighting drug Taxol is derived from. Both trees are very
similar in foliage to the English yew that is used in landscaping in the
north, but neither are hardy much about their native latitude.



Willard H. Fell Jr.

District Forester

Georgia Forestry Commission

18899 US Hwy 301 N.

Statesboro, GA 30461
RE: Back to the multi-stemmed giants   wad-@comcast.net
  Jan 12, 2005 09:37 PST 
Will

I have Taxus floridana planted here in Se Pa, and so far it is hanging in there. We had a teens temp spell recently, and it doesn't appear to be phased. I will let you know in spring if it flushes out.

Scott
RE: Back to the multi-stemmed giants   Willard Fell
  Jan 13, 2005 06:19 PST 
Evidently from reading some of the responses, both the FL Torreya and the FL Yew while struggling in their native habitat, are both hardy in other places (Asheville & DC). It might end up being a situation similar to the "Lost Gordonia". This small tree, also known as the Franklinia (Gordonia) alatamaha, was first reported by several botanists in the mid 18th century near Barrington's Ferry on the lower Altamaha River near here. One of the Bartram's collected it taking it back to Philadelphia and it was last seen in the wild in 1790. The area has been searched quite extensively for remnant populations for the past ¾ century almost to an obsession by several noted local botanists/historians without luck. The strange thing is attempts to plant it in at a park/boat landing at the original site have failed. It does not do well at all in the gardens of the lower Coastal Plains of GA either, yet the plant thrives in the red clay piedmont and some of the best specimens are in DC and Philadelphia area gardens. In fact the National Champ is located in Montgomery County PA with a 78" circ. and 37' tall.



WF



Willard H. Fell Jr.

District Forester

Georgia Forestry Commission
RE: Back to the multi-stemmed giants   wad-@comcast.net
  Jan 13, 2005 08:51 PST 
Will F

I read somewhere, that the reason it cannot thrive in the south is due to a phytopthera strain from cotton. I have two here at work, and one at the house. Bartram's gardens in Philadelphia is still there and open to the public. We measured some trees there this past October.

Scott