Florida Torreya

(Torreya taxifolia)

Florida Torreya (Torreya taxifolia)

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

Similar Species: No similar species within its range.

Measurements: Florida Torreya is an irregularly conical tree with slightly pendulous branches. Height reaches up to 40 feet, although most are much smaller, and 1 to 2 feet in diameter at breast height.

Seed Cones: Purple, olive-shaped, 1.0 to1.25 inches long and 0.75 inches thick.

Needles: Needles in two parallel rows of needle pairs, slightly curved; apex with a small spines; needles about 1.5 inches long, dark green on the top, paler below with two broad, but vague, white stripes.

Bark: Brown, tinged with orange, and irregularly divided by fissures into low ridges.

Native Range: Florida Torreya is found only on the bluffs along the eastern bank of the Apalachicola River in the Panhandle of Florida and the western corner of Georgia.

Habitat: See above.

Notes: Florida Torreya is on the U.S. Endangered Species List. Although the species was doing well in its native range until 1950, in the following decades they were afflicted with a fungal disease. All that remains in the wild are stumps with sprouts. The cause of the disease and its cure are unknown. The only mature individuals of the species remaining are in cultivation.