Torreya californica

Torrey 1854

Common names

California nutmeg, California torreya, stinking cedar (Peattie 1950).

Taxonomic notes

Syn: Torreya myristica Hooker; Tumion californicum (Torrey) Greene (Hils 1993).

Description

"Trees to 20(25) m; trunk to 90(120) cm dbh; crown conic or, in age, round-topped. Branches spreading to slightly drooping; 2-year-old branches reddish brown. Leaves 3-8 cm, abaxial side with 2 deeply impressed, glaucous bands of stomates, flattened on adaxial side, emitting pungent odor when crushed. Pollen cones whitish. Seed (including aril) 2.5-3.5 cm; aril light green streaked with purple. 2n = 16" (Hils 1993).

Range

USA: California. Rare and local along mountain streams, protected slopes, creek bottoms, and moist canyons of the Coast Range and Sierra Nevada, at 0-2000 m elevation (Hils 1993). See also Thompson et al. (1999).

Big tree

The largest known living tree, near Swanton, California, was 203.7 cm DBH and 29.3 m tall when measured in 1992. A former champion was 144 cm dbh and 43 m tall when it was logged (F. Callahan email 2011.08.21).

Oldest

The oldest known is represented by a disk from a tree that was logged from a dry south slope in a canyon west of Willits, California. It contains 480 rings in a distance of about 45 cm. The disk is owned by Frank Callahan (email 2011.08.21), who also has another disk from a former national champion tree (noted above) that has 286 rings.

Dendrochronology

Ethnobotany

Observations

Arno and Gyer (1973) indicate that it can be found in "draws and basins on Mt. Tamalpais in Marin County;" along "the road entering Yosemit Valley from El Portal" (Yosemite National Park); at "the entrance to Boyden Cave in Kings Canyon" (National Park); and "the trail to Crystal Cave and near Clough Cave in Sequoia National Park."

I have found it on the road towards Giant Forest a few miles beyond the Foothills Visitor Center in Sequoia National Park (36° 32.558' N, 118° 46.912' W). My notes report: "Here I find what is definitely the most prickly conifer I have ever encountered. This They're growing amidst evergreen oaks, blue oaks, tanoak, a few small incense-cedars, and an understory with a xeric analogue of ladyfern, shrub oak, and probably poison oak. There's active regeneration, trees and seedlings growing both above and below the highway. Within 100 m of the sample point there are probably 50 stems taller than breast height, the largest has a dbh of about 25 cm. These trees are growing on a south- or southeast-facing slope. It seems to be a relatively dry microsite, but the torreyas are on locally concave topography. Slopes are 60-70%. We only find fruits on the largest, sun-grown specimen. Seedlings, of which the smallest I can find are about 15 cm tall, basically look the same as the larger plants except that their needles are shorter, about 1.5-2 cm vs. 4 cm on sun foliage in the mature trees."

On the coast, Samuel P. Taylor State Park near Point Reyes has some very large trees, including two that were 30.25 and 32.3 m tall in November 2011 (Steve Sillett email 2011.11.19).

I also have a report that they occur in Sequoia National Park on the lower part of the trail from Potwisha campground to Marble Falls (Roy Malahowski email 2011.03.13).

I have also seen them near Cascade Falls on the Big Oak Flat Road in Yosemite National Park.

Remarks

Citations

See also

Burke (1975).

Lanner (1999).