A popular botanist once remarked that “plants connect us to deep time.” This means that plants are living links to the world of centuries, millennia, or even millions of years ago and that they can remind us of and teach us about a deeper story than human history. Gardening can be our chance to interact with that world and that history, and in this blog we’re going to explore a unique horticultural mystery. Extinct in the wild, Franklinia altamaha has long fascinated both scientist and gardeners for both the challenge of maintaining it in a garden and its own murky history. Today, we’re going to take a look at this unique tree and how it might feature in your own garden. Let’s dig in!
What is Franklinia altamaha?
Let’s start with the botany and history of the plant in question. Franklinia altamaha—Franklinia for short—is a member of the order Theaceae, meaning that it’s related to the tea plant (Camellia spp). It’s one of only two Theaceae to take tree form, the other being the nearly-as-rare Camellia amplexicaulis, a native of Southeast Asia also extinct in the wild.
Franklinia was first identified by botanists John and William Bartram, two brothers from Philadelphia who set out to explore and catalog the fauna of North America in the 1760s. They encountered Franklinia in the swamps along the Altamaha River in Georgia. This is the only confirmed sighting of Franklinia in the wild—the Bartrams found a stand of the trees on two or three acres, describing them as “very curious shrubs.” Thankfully for us they took samples; in subsequent journeys through the air they failed to locate it again as William later recounted: “We never saw it grow in any other place, nor have I ever since seen it growing wild, in all my travels.” The last credible—though unconfirmed—sightings of the plant took place around the year 1800; it is now believed to have been extinct in the wild since no later than 1803.
The samples taken by the Bartrams are the basis for all contemporary Franklinia trees. Named by John and William Bartram in honor of family friend and Founding Father of the United States Ben Franklin, Franklinia quickly became a popular plant in ornamental and botanical gardens in the UK and nascent United States.
The Joys and Challenges of Growing Franklinia at Home
We’ll be very up front about this: Franklinia is a real challenge to grow at home. While many of us are familiar with its close relatives of the Camellia type, Franklinia is much more picky about where and how it grows, much more sensitive to soil and water conditions, and prone to more pests than its more popular relatives. This sensitivity—along with agricultural development in its native region—may have contributed to its extremely limited range and extinction in the wild.
Most Franklinia cultivation and propagation is accomplished via cuttings, which are readily available from many specialty nurseries for gardeners who wish to take on the challenges of this plant. Growing Franklinia from seeds is absolutely possible, but the seeds themselves are less easy to obtain than cuttings much of the time.
Franklinia requires full sun, acidic well drained soil, and stability—this plant is exceptionally sensitive to root damage or root disruption. It is likewise sensitive to both over-watering—which may result in crown rot—and drought. These considerations make it especially difficult to transplant successfully, so it is best grown either as a patio tree in a large, well drained container or in a site carefully chosen in your landscaping; you likely won’t be able to relocate it later. We’re told that Franklinia can also struggle in urban environments, where soil conditions may be uneven or unfavorable and full sun or the right temperatures may be difficult to come by.
The plant is also prone to a few pests, which can quickly wreck havoc on its sensitive growth. Wilt and root rot can set in if the soil isn’t quite right. Crown rot may set in if the plant is over-watered, as we’ve mentioned previously, and drought can stunt growth or cause the sudden death of the plant. Sawflies love to munch on Franklinia, and it is prone to some pathogens that also affect cotton plants. The latter issue may have led to its extinction in the wild and to this day Franklinia should not be planted in areas that have been used for cotton cultivation or have cotton growing close by.
With all the challenges and pitfalls out of the way: gardeners and landscapers who can successfully grow a Franklinia will be rewarded by a truly unique plant. This tree produces lovely long slender leaves (which turn a beautiful rust-red color in autumn) and beautiful fragrant blossoms, which generally appear from mid-late summer until the first frost. It should be positioned accordingly; Franklinia offers both visual and olfactory delights and you’ll want to take advantage of both.
Franklinia is also a living piece of botanical history, sadly extinct in the wild. This tree’s history may begin in the last Ice Age, which created a number of isolated microclimates and unique species across North America. Franklinia is one of these—a plant that only grew in one small place and persisted for millennia until the environment could no longer support it. Thanks to the effort of many 18th century botanists and gardeners, we can still enjoy this plant in botanical gardens, ornamental gardens, or—if we’re both lucky and dedicated—our own landscaping. It’s a link to a long chain of prehistoric and historical events and a reminder of the many things that had to happen in order for us to be here, now and a reminder that plants experience time quite differently than we do.
We hope you’ve found this informative and maybe even inspirational. Please, if you have any experience with Franklinia, reach out and let us know. We’d love to talk to you and maybe relate your stories in a future blog. If you decide to try growing Franklinia, let us know! We’d love to follow along with your progress and here all about how it goes!
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