Franklinia alatamaha

ARRIVING 9/13/2011 AT LMS GREENHOUSE & NURSERY!!!!!!!

 

Franklinia alatamaha

  

• Franklinia alatamaha is a deciduous large shrub or small tree
• Growing to 15–25 ft.
•  Fragrant white flowers, (similar to camellia blossoms) that smell like honeysuckle.
• The tree has a symmetrical, somewhat pyramidal shape, with different individuals of the species forming almost identical crowns. It forms several vertical trunks close to ground level.
• The bark is gray with vertical white striations and has a ridged texture.
• The alternate, obovate leaves are up to 6 in (15 cm) in length and turn a bright orange-red in the fall.
• Although difficult to transplant, once established Franklinia can live a century or more.

History

Philadelphia botanists John and William Bartram first observed the tree growing along the Altamaha River near Fort Barrington in the British colony of Georgia in October 1765. John Bartram recorded "severall very curious shrubs" in his journal entry for October 1, 1765. William Bartram returned several times to the same location on the Altamaha during a collecting trip to the American South, funded by Dr. John Fothergill of London. William Bartram collected Franklinia seeds during this extended trip to the South from 1773 through 1776, a journey described in his book Bartram's Travels published in Philadelphia in 1791. William Bartram brought seed of Franklinia back to Philadelphia in 1777, and had flowering plants by 1781. After several years of study, Bartram assigned the “rare and elegant flowering shrub,” to a new genus Franklinia, named in honor of his father's great friend Benjamin Franklin. The new plant name, Franklinia alatamaha was first published by a Bartram cousin, Humphry Marshall in 1785 in his catalogue of North American trees and shrubs entitled Arbustrum Americanum. (Marshall 1785: 48-50; Fry 2001).

William Bartram was the first to report the extremely limited distribution of Franklinia. "We never saw it grow in any other place, nor have I ever since seen it growing wild, in all my travels, from Pennsylvania to Point Coupe, on the banks of the Mississippi, which must be allowed a very singular and unaccountable circumstance; at this place there are two or 3 acres (12,000 m²) of ground where it grows plentifully." (W. Bartram 1791: 468).

The tree was last verified in the wild in 1803 by the English plant collector John Lyon, (although there are hints it may have been present into at least the 1840s. See: Bozeman and Rogers 1986). The cause of its extinction in the wild is not known, but has been attributed to a number of causes including fire, flood, over collection by plant collectors, and fungal disease introduced with the cultivation of cotton plants. (Dirr 1998: 390-391).

All the Franklin trees known to exist today are descended from seed collected by William Bartram and propagated at Bartram's Garden in Philadelphia.^[2]

Cultivation

The Franklin tree has a reputation among gardeners for being difficult to cultivate, especially in urban environments. It prefers sandy, high-acid soil, and does not tolerate compacted clay soil, excessive moisture, or any disturbance to its roots. The Franklin tree has no known pests, but it is subject to a root-rot disease and does not endure drought well.^[3]