The Lost Franklinia

 

Franklina alatamaha in flower.  
Rowan County, North Carolina.

The story starts with a father and son team of botanists in colonial America during the late 1700s.  The father, John Bartram, founded America’s first botanical garden just outside Philadelphia and undertook botanical explorations of the British colonies in North America.  John Bartram shared plants with many European scientists including the founder of modern biological classification, Carl Linnaeus.  He was appointed Royal Botanist in North America by King George III. The son, William Bartram was a botanist, ornithologist and natural history writer whose great work, Travels Through North & South Carolina, Georgia, East & West Florida, the Cherokee Country, the Extensive Territories of the Muscogulges or Creek Confederacy, and the Country of the Chactaws; Containing An Account of the Soil and Natural Productions of Those Regions, Together with Observations on the Manners of the Indians, or as it is commonly called, Bartram’s Travels, is still read today.

 

Franklina alatamaha lithograph from Bartram's Travels.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bartram#/media/File:William_Bartram01.jpg

The Bartrams were making their first foray into the American south in 1765.  The father and son team was exploring the Altamaha River valley on the coastal plain of Georgia when they saw an odd, shrubby tree with white flowers. William Bartram returned to Georgia several times in the 1770s and found this plant growing only at this one location near Fort Barrington.  He was able to collect seeds from the shrub and return them to Philadelphia.  Bartram was not able to grow plants from the seeds he collected until after his father’s death, but these plants thrived in the botanical garden and flowered there.  After several name changes the plant became known as Franklina alatamaha to honor the Bartram's friend Benjamin Franklin and to commemorate the only location this plant was known to grow. The extra "a" in specific name for this plant reflects an alternative spelling of Altamaha that was current in the late 18^th century. 

Harper Lake just off the Altamaha River near Ft. Barrington.
McIntosh County, Georgia.

Franklin’s Tree, as it is commonly known, was seen growing in the wild along the Altamaha River during the late 1700s but the last know collection was made in 1803.  Franklinia was then extinct in the wild.  But Bartram shared seed and plants with many people and institutions and they shared and they shared.  Franklin’s Tree is now grown in botanical gardens, parks and yards throughout North America.  The cause of its extinction in the wild is a matter of debate.  First, the population of Franklinia alatamaha was already small when it was found by the Bartrams.  Perhaps it once had a wider distribution but in the late 1700s it was restricted to a small area thus limiting the number of plants.  Some scientists think the establishment of cotton plantations on the Coastal Plain of Georgia introduced a pathogen that reduced the already small population.  Others cite over-collection by botanists of the day.  Still others think a natural disaster like a flood of the Altamaha River eliminated the wild population. But whatever the reason, Franklinia was gone from its original habitat by the early 19th century.    

Franklinia alatamaha leaves and flower buds.
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Franklinia alatamaha flower with Bumblebee (Bombus sp.) pollinators.
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Franklinia is a member of the Tea Family, the Theaceae, that also contains Tea plants (Camellia sinensis), Flowering Camellias (Camellia sp.) and several American relatives including Loblolly Bay (Gordonia lasianthus).    

Loblolly Bay (Gordonia lasianthus) is in the same family as Franklinia.
The relationship between these plants is made clear by the flower structure.
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

One summer day I set out to find the original location of the lost Franklinia.  I left Atlanta just after dawn, hoping to arrive at Fort Barrington before the day got too hot.  Interstate driving made the first part of the trip go quickly.  Then on to a US highway with numerous small towns.  Then off the highway on a paved road, then a gravel road, then a road of fine white sand.  The further I went, the wilder the country became.  There were farms and paper company land with pine plantations interspersed with clear cuts.  One mile from Fort Barrington a sign next to the road proclaimed, “Private Property, No Trespassing”.  That brought my progress to a halt in a cloud of dust on the white sand road.  It seems Fort Barrington is now a private hunt camp and Bartram chasers are not welcome.  I backtracked a little and found a road called Barrington Park Road.  That sounded promising and it led to Barrington County Park, with its campground on Harper Lake, just off the Altamaha River.  

Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) hammock.
Barrington County Park, McIntosh County, Georgia.

Long Leaf Pine (Pinus palustris) savanna.
McIntosh County, Georgia.

Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) flowering on Harper Lake.
McIntosh County, Georgia. 

As I walked around the park the heat was building.  I found Bald Cypress along the river and on higher ground Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) hammocks.  There were Long Leaf Pines (Pinus palustris) and Saw Palmettos (Serenoa repens).  There I could picture the Bartrams, walking these same woods and coming on one of the rarest plants in America.  A plant so rare that in a few decades it would be lost in the wild and exist only in gardens.  Franklinia alatamaha survives today through the extraordinary efforts of John and William Bartram.  They collected and propagated this rare plant and saved it for the world.