Ben Franklin Tree

Franklinia alatamaha

John Bartram and his son William were out on an exploratory hike in Georgia in 1765 when they came across a once in a lifetime find. Along the banks of the Altamaha River on a three acre tract, John and William discovered a group of showy, handsome shrubs – presumed to be a common North American plant. In his return journey in 1773, William collected seed from the site to plant in the Bartram garden plot in Philadelphia. This trip would be the last confirmed* sighting of the plant colony. William would go on to name the shrub the Ben Franklin Tree after the famous American Benjamin Franklin. Its species name alatamaha was a contemporary variant spelling of the river on which it was discovered. Today all specimens of the Ben Franklin Tree are derived from William Bartram’s expedition. The tree is considered extinct in the wild. The plant is a member of the tea family and often takes on upright, spreading form, similar to the Sweetbay Magnolia (Magnolia virginiana). The tree is most appreciated for its white, wonderfully fragrant flowers borne throughout the summer and its wonderful orange to red and purple fall foliage. Today, little is known decisively about why the species disappeared from the Georgia wilds. Oddly enough, the plant performs best in more northern habitats, contrary to its discovery location. This observation has led many botanists to consider the tree as a glacial relict – isolated and subsequently trapped in its attempt to migrate northward. Another prominent theory is that a fungal pathogen found its way into the river valleys of the Ben Franklin Tree soon after cotton plantations became a fixture in the colony. Other theories fixate on the single or combined influence of man and natural disasters such as climate change, flood, fire, and disease. Attempts to reintroduce the plant in and around its discovered location have remained unsuccessful to this day. In any case, we are lucky the Bartrams decided to take a hike in 1765, or we may have never known of the shrub’s existence.

* Noted Scottish nurseryman John Lyon claimed to have found six to eight specimens in 1803. The validity of Lyon’s report is in question; however, his report seemed to verify that the species was in severe decline.