  Seed in aril from a tree in Sacramento's Capitol Arboretum [C.J. Earle]. | Torreya californica Torrey 1854Common NamesCalifornia nutmeg, California torreya, stinking cedar (2).Taxonomic notesSyn: Torreya myristica Hooker; Tumion californicum (Torrey) Greene (1).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" (1).RangeUSA: 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 (1).Big TreeOldestDendrochronologyEthnobotanyObservationsHave seen in the Botanical Garden at Tilden Park, Berkeley. Arno (3) indicates 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."RemarksCitations(1) Hils, Matthew H. at the Flora of North America web site.(2) Peattie 1950. (3) Arno & Gyer 1973. See also Burke 1975. |
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