California Torreya

(Torreya californica)

Color Photographs: © by and courtesy of Charles Webber, California Academy of Sciences

California Torreya (Torreya californica)

Identifying Characters: The California distribution of the species, the distinctive olive-like seed cones, the strong aroma of the crushed vegetation and seed cones, and the paired, parallel rows of needles are all highly distinctive.

Similar Species: No similar species in California.

Measurements: The tree is basically conical with widely spreading branches. The height of the tree is between 15 and 70 feet with a basal diameter at breast height of 1.0 to 2.0 feet.

Seed Cones: Seed cone an elliptical fruit between 1.0 and 1.5 inches long, green, sometimes streaked with purple; seed completely contained within the fruit, brown, about two-thirds size of total fruit; seed cone very aromatic.

Needles: Needles in two rows in roughly opposite pairs; length 1.0 to 3.0 inches, flat and slightly curved; tipped with a sharp point; dark green above and green below with two narrow white lines.

Bark: Bark gray-brown, thin, broken into narrow scaly ridges.

Native Range: California Torreya is rare, but widely distributed in the mountains of central and northern California. In the coastal mountains the species descends almost to the coastline. The eastern limit of its range is along the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada.

Habitat: This species is rare and found mixed with other conifers and is found primarily along mountain streams and in shady canyons.

Notes: The species is sometimes called Stinking Cedar because of its strong aroma. Sometimes also referred to as Nutmeg Cedar because of the shape of the fruit and its smell.