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Species T. californica T. fargesii T. grandis T. jackii T. nucifera T. taxifolia |
Common Names
Torreya, stinking-cedar (2).Taxonomic notes
Syn: Tumion Rafinesque (2).Description
"Trees dioecious. Bark brown to grayish brown, tinged with orange, fissured. Branches spreading to drooping; twigs nearly opposite. Leaves mostly appearing 2-ranked, rigid; stomates abaxial, in 2 narrow, glaucous, whitish or brownish bands; apex sharp-pointed, spine-tipped, sharp to touch; resin canal central. Pollen cones ovoid or oblong, with 6 - 8 whorls of 4 sporophylls, each bearing 4 sporangia. Ovules 2, only 1 of each pair maturing. Seed maturing in 2 years; aril green or green with purple streaks, resinous, leathery, thin, completely enclosing woody seed coat, splitting into 2 parts at maturity; albumen ruminate. x = 11" (2).Range
China; Japan; USA: California & Florida (1).Big Tree
Oldest
Dendrochronology
Ethnobotany
Observations
Remarks
The genus began with the ca. 1838 discovery, by pioneering Southeastern botanist Harvey Croom, of Torreya taxifolia; the genus was named for John Torrey (1796-1873), one of the most celebrated U.S. botanists of the mid-19th century (3). Torrey himself was later (1854) to describe another species in the genus, Torreya californica.Citations
(1) Silba 1986.(2) Matthew H. Hils at the Flora of North America web site.
(3) Virginia S. Eifert. 1965. Tall trees and far horizons. New York: Dodd, Mead. 301 p.
See also:
Burke 1975.
Elias 1987.
Buchholz, J.T. 1940. The embryogeny of Torreya, with a note on Austrotaxus. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 67:731-754.
[Torreya] [Taxaceae] [home]
This page is from the Gymnosperm Database
URL: http://www.geocities.com/~earlecj/ta/to/index.htm
Edited by Christopher J. Earle
E-mail:earlecj@earthlink.com
Last modified on 20-Mar-1999