Florida Torreya, Torreya taxifolia
1960s • Florida
“I came here the way you would go to Paris to visit a cathedral. I just had to see the torreya.” - E.O. Wilson One of the most ancient plants still in existence, Torreya taxifolia was once a common tree in the Apalachicola River basin. Due to an introduced fungus in the 1950s, less than 1% of the trees remain, its range now limited to several steep ravines in the Florida panhandle.
Marinelli, Janet. “For Endangered Florida Tree, How Far to Go to Save a Species?” EO Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, 27 Mar. 2018, eowilsonfoundation.org/for-endangered-Florida-tree-how-far-to-go-to-save-a-species.
Plate from Nuttall's The North American sylva, published 1849. and ovule, magnified.
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