Preserving Non-Native Species

Preserving Non-Native Species. . , These Japanese torreyas have an interesting history at the Botanical Garden., Torreyas, a small group of conifers with only six species, are native to eastern Asia, northern Florida, and California. The trees you see here are a distant relative of the torreya species native to Florida. These Japanese torreyas were planted soon after the founding of The New York Botanical Garden in 1891. At that time this area of the Garden was called the Pinetum, for the rare pines and other conifers planted here. These are large, mature specimens of a tree that is not often found in cultivation. For this reason, these natives of central and southern Japan remain part of the Native Plant Garden., The genus is named after John Torrey (1796-1873), one of the most distinguished botanists of the 19th century. Torrey was a professor of botany at Columbia College when he founded the first botanical society in the Americas in 1871. Known today as the Torrey Botanical Society, the organization is dedicated to promoting interest in botany and disseminating information about plant science internationally.