NOTE: In 1939, Chauncey Beadle (the Biltmore's botanist and nursery superintendent) planted in the Biltmore Gardens about a dozen specimens of Torreya taxifolia collected from Florida. The 2005 fall harvest of T. tax seeds at the Biltmore numbered 130. In mid August 2006, Connie Barlow carefully viewed all trees, and with binoculars to see the tops, but counted a total of just 55 seeds, with perhaps a dozen or more of that number being smaller and appearing nonviable.
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PHOTO O4 shows the light-green new growth of foliage, compared to the darker green of a previous year's growth. This low-hanging foliage is in a sunny spot. BTW: A simple touch test will always allow the observer to differentiate Torreya from its yew relatives. All species of Torreya have needles with very sharp (painful!) tips.PHOTOS 05 & 06 show some of the low-hanging "fruit" of this female tree. Each single seed is covered by a fleshy green sarcotesta. The shape of T. taxifolia "fruit" is much more ovate than the oblong-ish "fruit" of T. californica. (Click to view a comparison of the two species.)
PHOTO 07 shows a doublet fruit, while PHOTO 08 shows a doublet in which the parent tree is putting energy only into one fruit. Nascent ovaries on mature trees often occur in groups of two or even three.
PHOTO 09 shows two single fruits growing near one another.
When the author of this page visited the Biltmore Torreya specimens 4 years earlier, the main section was a mix of tall, old pines in the high canopy and Torreya specimens as the lower canopy. The Biltmore reports that the broken stems and otherwise weakened and degraded condition of some of the original trees is due to the devastation by hurricanes Francis and Ivan in September 2004. The estate lost hundreds, if not thousands of large trees due to the saturated ground and high winds. Dozens of large pines in the adjacent groves were either uprooted and/or broken. Biltmore arborists had to remove additional ones that had become safety hazards. After having grown under the pines for decades, the Torreyas have experienced sun scald and stress from drier soil since the canopy was opened.
Connie Barlow has a locked web-page that contains two dozen photographs, with commentary, of her site visit. This protection is necessary in order to prevent prospective seed thieves from using the detailed information. Connie is happy to let well-intentioned Torreya Guardians have access to this web page on an individual basis. Click here to Contact Connie.
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