planted specimens and their offspring
BACKGROUND: At least since the last glaciation of the Pleistocene, the two U.S. species of genus Torreya have been found only in California and along the Apalachicola River of the Florida panhandle. Nonetheless it is postulated that the Apalachicola species of Torreya (T. taxifolia) would have been native to the southern Appalachians and possibly further north during previous interglacials and warm epochs of the Cenozoic.NORTH CAROLINA GROVES OF TORREYA: Torreya Guardians is aware of 2 groves of mature Torreya in North Carolina that were planted long enough ago, with both male and female trees, and residing in situations in which natural propagation of second and third generation trees has been able to occur (likely thanks to local squirrels acting as seed dispersers).
ASHEVILLE NC SITE: In 1939 about a dozen specimens of T. taxifolia (Florida Torreya) were planted at the Biltmore Gardens, Asheville NC. You can view several photos taken at the Biltmore Gardens in 2002 and many more taken at the Biltmore Gardens in 2006.
HIGHLANDS NC SITE: In the 1920s, three (still surviving) specimens were planted on a private estate in Highlands NC. There is no documentation as to species. Based on seed morphology, we surmise the plants are California Torreya. Take a tour of this site by viewing the Highlands Torreya photos.
2 SITES NEAR WAYNESVILLE NC: 30 July 2008 marked the first "assisted migration" of T. taxifolia back into natural forested habitat of the southern Appalachians. Corneille Bryan Native Plant Garden (elevation 2,600 feet) was the site for the planting of 10 potted seedlings beneath a mostly deciduous canopy. 21 additional seedlings were planted beneath fully deciduous canopy on the property of another private land steward (elevation 3,400 feet). Take a tour of this historic event via our posted PHOTO-ESSAY OF THE WAYNESVILLE REWILDING ACTION.
MORE NORTH CAROLINA TORREYAS: A 2009 issue of the magazine Wildlife in North Carolina contained an editorial correction by Greg Jenkins titled "More N.C. Torreyas." It reads: "Mount Olive botanist A. J. Bullard called to inform us that some information was missing from our story "Rewilding a Native" by Sidney Cruze in the Aug 2009 issue. When we asked what was missing, Bullard blew our minds by revealing that there is another living Torreya taxifolia tree in North Carolina that is well over a century old. This tree was one of the two that were planted in Clinton in the 1850s, around the same time that it is estimated the state champion tree in Norlina was planted. A storm in the late 1990s knocked down one of the Clinton Torreyas, but the other survives today. Bullard also explained that the researchers had traced the Norlina and Clinton trees to a single source. Pomaria Nurseries, an antebellum outfit near Columbia, SC, sold a tremendous variety of native and exotic fruit trees, ornamental trees, shrubs and flowers during that era. Scientists made the connection because Osage orange trees were planted near both Torreya sites, and Pomaria sold both types of trees. Bullard and his late cousin, Bob Melvin, verified the identity of the Clinton trees in 1995 and collected 5,000 seeds from the trees, which they distributed to botanists across the state for attempted propagation. Seeds were planted at sites from Meredith College in Raleigh to Western Carolina University in Cullowhee. Perhaps the most surprising fact Bullard provided was that, contrary to botany textbooks, Torreya is not dioecious — that is, having male and female reproductive structures on separate plants. Rather, it is monoecious, because both the Norlina and Clinton trees are producing viable seeds with no other Torreya around. Bullard knows this firsthand because he ha two Torreya trees on his own property — both bearing fruit." CONTACT Connie Barlow by email for a PDF of Barlow's December 2009 phone interview of A.J. Bullard on the Clinton Torreyas and the whereabouts of their offspring.