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Current Status:

Wild populations continue to succumb to "fungal blight," for which there is no known remedy. Habitat management can do little to minimize the disease, but germplasm is being conserved through propagation of cuttings.

Achievements:

A study of on-site preservation of Florida torreya by The Nature Conservancy, now largely completed, has greatly improved census information on wild populations. Cuttings from the trees are propagated, and sets are provided to widely dispersed botanical gardens in Florida and Georgia for further propagation.

Current Recovery Needs:

Continued inventories of wild populations are needed, along with establishment of garden collections of torreya germplasm. It is hoped that planned restoration of the original fire regime in longleaf pinelands adjacent to torreya habitat may have a modest smoke fumigation effect, reducing fungus infections.

Section 6 Funding and Activities:

The State of Georgia received $1,000 in FY 1991 and, through the Georgia Freshwater Wetlands and Heritage Inventory, conducted an inventory of the 25 remaining stems in the wild in Georgia and provided financial support for propagation of the species at the Atlanta Botanical Garden.

Partnerships

Army Corps of Engineers: The Corps owns a small but important area of torreya habitat that it is managing well.

Atlanta Botanical Garden: This non-profit enterprise currently is propagating torreya trees in a greenhouse. The trees will be planted outdoors when they are larger and are showing vertical shoot growth.

Recovery Plan Status:

Plan approved 9/9/86.