Franklinia

Franklinia
Flower and leaves in autumn

Possibly Extinct  (NatureServe)[2]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Theaceae
Genus: Franklinia
W.Bartram ex Marshall[3]
Species:
F. alatamaha
Binomial name
Franklinia alatamaha
W.Bartram ex Marshall[3]
Natural range
Synonyms[3]
  • Franklinia alatama Raf.
  • Gordonia franklinii L'Hér.
  • Gordonia pubescens L'Hér.

Franklinia is a monotypic genus in the tea family, Theaceae. The sole species in this genus is a flowering tree, Franklinia alatamaha, commonly called the Franklin tree, and native to the Altamaha River valley in Georgia in the southeastern United States. It has been extinct in the wild since the early 19th century, but survives as a cultivated ornamental tree.

In the past, some botanists have included Franklinia within the related genus Gordonia. The southeastern North American species Gordonia lasianthus differs in having evergreen foliage, flowers with longer stems, winged seeds, and conical seed capsules. Franklinia was often known as Gordonia pubescens until the middle of the 20th century.

Franklinia is now thought to be closer in relation to the Asian genus Schima. Recent DNA studies and examinations of floral ontogeny in the Theaceae place Franklinia together with Gordonia and Schima in a subtribe.[4] Hybrid crosses have been produced between Franklinia alatamaha and Gordonia lasianthus, and between Franklinia alatamaha and Schima argentea.[5][6]

  1. ^ Rivers, M.C. (2015). "Franklinia alatamaha". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2015: e.T30408A62077322. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T30408A62077322.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Franklinia alatamaha. NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Franklinia alatamaha was originally described and published in Arbustrum Americanum: The American Grove, or, an Alphabetical Catalogue of Forest Trees and Shrubs, Natives of the American United States, Arranged according to the Linnaean System. Philadelphia. 49 (-50). 1785. "Franklinia alatamaha". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
  4. ^ Tsou, Chih-Hua. 1998. "Early Floral Development of Camellioideae (Theaceae)," American Journal of Botany, 85(11), p. 1531-1547.
  5. ^ Orton, Elwin R., Jr. 1977. "Successful Hybridization of Gordonia lasianthus (L.) Ellis x Franklinia alatamaha Marshall," American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta, vol. 11, no. 4 (October), p. 81-84.
  6. ^ Ranney, Thomas G. and Thomas A. Eaker, Paul R. Frantz, Clifford R. Parks. 2003 "xSchimlinia floridbunda (Theaceae): A New Intergeneric Hybrid between Franklinia alatamaha and Schima argentea," HortScience, vol. 38(6), October, p. 1198-1200.