This program – to encourage cultivation of the rare and historic “Franklin” tree – is under development.  Please contact margaret@tamassee.org for information.

The Franklinia Alatahama tree was discovered in 1765 by John Bartram, a plant specialist, who was appointed Royal Botanist for North America by King George III earlier that same year.  John Bartram and his son William discovered franklinia growing in a 2-3 acre tract along the banks of the Alatamaha River in southeastern Georgia. Franklinia has never been observed growing in any other place than along the Alatamaha.  In a return trip to the spot in 1773, William Bartram collected seed from this site and brought it back to the Bartrams’ garden in Philadelphia where the tree was successfully grown. The tree has been extinct in the wild since 1803.  It has been perpetuated in cultivation (all plants derive from the seed collected by Bartram) not only because of its rarity but also because of its attractive flowers and foliage.  The genetic base of this plant is quite narrow in large part because all plants currently in existence in the world come from the materials collected by the Bartrams more than 200 years ago. 

Drawing by William Bartram.