Field documentation of the 6 seedlings that grew and survived with zero human help, following "free-planting" of 15 seeds directly into forest soil in April 2015. Russ Regnery was the planter, within his forest at 3,800 feet elevation on the slope of Black Rock Mountain, near Franklin NC. Video clips of the 2015 planting (Episode 12) are matched with the actual seedlings closely photographed and analyzed Nov 2018. Results: Four summers later, this species exhibits remarkable capacities to recover from early stem and leaf herbivory. A multi-site, richly illustrated, and very detailed summary of overall results entail our new Free-Planting webpage.

37 minutes - filmed November 6, 2018

KEY FINDINGS:

1. These trees have put forth leaves well acclimated to severe cold spells in Ohio.

2. Seeds are produced only on the branches that receive nearly full sun. (Connie notes from her 2005 site visit to wild California Torreya habitat that this seems to be a standard of the genus.)

14 minutes - filmed 2 October 2018

Torreya Guardians in Cleveland, Loveland (Cincinnati), and now Dayton Ohio are reporting early success with nurturing Torreya taxifolia in their forests. Florida Torreya has long been regarded as a "glacial relict." Considering that the "champion" Torreya tree is in a landscape planting in a cemetery south of Dayton, Ohio seems like a sure bet for doing well in today's climate and perhaps tolerating substantial warming in the decades ahead. Diana Spiegel (with assistance from Jim Spiegel) video-interviewed by Connie Barlow.

15 minutes - filmed June 2016 and November 2017

Germination success in planting seeds directly into a rich forest habitat is show-cased during a field visit to our northern-most planter in Michigan (near Traverse City). Liana May is a professional botanist who, in April 2017 planted 100 seeds (from the fall 2016 harvest of Torreya taxifolia in Medford OR). She "free-planted" the seeds directly into the conservation easement on her 40 acres of forested property. Thankfully, by the time she received the seeds, other Torreya Guardians had confirmed an ideal way to foil rodent predation: plant the seeds 4 to 6 inches deep. Liana followed those directions, so we are expecting a satisfying proportion of the seeds to produce seedlings by fall of 2019.

15 minutes - filmed July 27, 2018

By far the most expansive and exciting experiment in "rewilding" Torreya taxifolia into northward states began in November 2015 on the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee. All 400 seeds were "free-planted" directly into the ground — either 3 inches deep or under rocks — to protect the seed from rodent predation. Two years later, Connie Barlow video-documented the beginning success of 38 new seedlings.

Part 1 (24 minutes)   •   Part 2 (23 minutes)     filmed November 2017

In 2005, Connie Barlow visited 4 forested regions in California where Torreya californica could be found growing in the wild. Her aim was to experience and photo-record observations of the trees and their surrounds such that volunteer planters of the Torreya species native to the eastern USA (along with professionals in charge of this endangered species' recovery) could discern habitat preferences of the genus and thus pinpoint similar environments in eastern states for planting seeds and seedlings. Read Connie's 2005 observational notes at: Photo-essays of California Torreyas.

Part 1 (25 minutes)   •   Part 2 (27 minutes)

Frank Callahan transferred 1,000 seeds from the 2016 autumn harvest of Torreya taxifolia seeds — from two trees he had germinated from seed at an ex-situ planting (Medford, Oregon) some 22+ years earlier. He also shows two shrubby-form trees of Florida Torreya, about 22 years old. Significant discoveries: (a) rooted branchlets will not develop into single-stem trees and (b) Florida Torreya is harmed by sudden exposure to full-intensity sunlight, and even new leaves produced in direct sunlight may never adapt to sun-scald.

24 minutes - filmed February 2017

In 1939 Chauncey Beadle supplied the Biltmore Estate with a dozen Torreya taxifolia seeds or specimens collected in Florida — prior to any understanding of climate change and endangered species. Now this 75-year-old grove and its offspring are precious for securing the wellbeing of the species and for demonstrating that (with little human help) North Carolina is an ideal habitat for escaping the native diseases of a now too-warm Florida. Connie Barlow narrates photos and videos she captured on site visits to the Biltmore: February 2004, August 2006, and April 2015.

1 hour - assembled and posted March 15, 2016

Connie Barlow presents 15 years of baseline photos and videos she recorded of Torreya taxifolia and Taxus floridana in their historically native range in Torreya State Park in northern Florida. Photos of spectacular California Torreya trees, recorded by Barlow in 2005, show the potential for Florida Torreya recovery efforts to strive for. Fred Bess shows (in 2014 video) 2 Asian conifers (Cephalotaxus and Cunninghamia) used in landscaping that are Torreya look-alikes. Paleoecological evidence that Florida's Torreya was "left behind" in its peak glacial refuge supports "assisted migration" actions.

63 minutes - assembled & published, January 2016

This wild forest site on Bob Miller's property NE of Cincinnati Ohio is rich in diverse habitats, notably a deep ravine in glacial till down to the limestone bedrock. This is the first video in which current species range maps are overlaid on sections depicting native trees onsite. A total of 56 seeds planted (seeds from the 2014 harvests).

33 minutes - filmed May 20, 2015

"Assisted migration" for climate-endangered Florida Torreya inadvertently began 90 years ago, when botanist Thomas Grant Harbison planted this conifer species on his mountainside land in Highlands, NC. April 2015, Torreya Guardians documented this gone-wild grove — likely, the best and oldest example of how this ancient native lineage grows beneath a deciduous canopy and its slow dispersal by squirrels. Connie Barlow narrates with camera; Jack Johnston explores and measures the Torreya grove and surrounding plants.

    28 minutes - published April 19, 2015

First video-documentation of fate of historic 2008 rewilding action of the endangered Torreya taxifolia from Florida to North Carolina. Connie Barlow films and narrates a survey of the 21 plants in wild forest on the slope of Eaglenest Mountain, near Waynesville. Most important results are both positive and negative, which help us ascertain the habitat preferences of this species (moisture, shade, slope, aspect).

    54 minutes - published April 9, 2015

Second half of video series above. Key findings: (1) Counting vegetative buds at the tips of branches misleads, as older plants sprout branchlets on older regions of branches, too. (2) Don't plant near rhododendrons that will encroach on our plants. (3) Seedlings too long in the pot (rootbound) are inferior specimens for assessing Torreya's ability to thrive in wild settings, as their roots cannot support the tree unwatered; thus the main stem may die while growth is directed to a basal sprout. (4) Full sun may be stressful for Torreya outside of watered areas, but because potted seedlings have a full-sun growth form, the plant will need to reorient branching to a horizontal, yewlike form when under a deciduous canopy in wild settings.  45 minutes - published June 7, 2015

Thomas Mesko receives 43 Torreya taxifolia seeds from Connie Barlow, drawn from the 2014 harvest of Torreya Guardians. This video documents seeds being planted generally on north-facing slopes, between 1,600 and 1,800 feet elevation on Thomas's 50 acres of forested property along Wolf Creek, in the North Carolina section of the Ocoee Watershed.

    13 minutes - published March 29, 2015

MARCH 2019 UPDATE: Site visit reveals that this set of shallow-planted seeds suffered 100% seed predation. This was an important learning, as only after the 2015 planting occurred did we ascertain that planting seeds 3 inches deep deterred rodent seed predators.

Clint Bancroft shows Connie Barlow the 9 Florida Torreyas he has planted on his 18 acres in southeastern Tennessee (plus 2 more in pots). At 1,100 ft elevation, and in a mixed deciduous/conifer forest, all the Torreyas look healthy. In closing, Connie gives Clint 40 seeds from the fall 2014 Torreya Guardians' harvest. Clint demonstrates his rodent-proof outdoor shelter for germinating those seeds.

    19 minutes - published March 27, 2015

MARCH 2019 UPDATE: Site visit documents tremendous success of the outplanted seedlings recorded in this video (and germination of the 2015 donated seeds in protected pots). Video documentation will be posted later. Also refer to the Greasy Creek TN Torreya webpage for ongoing reports and photos.

While visiting the famous sole remaining Torreya taxifolia in Columbus, Georgia, Connie Barlow was struck by its location right along a free-flowing section of the Chattahoochee River. The Chattahoochee is the main conduit between the peak-glacial plant refuge in n. Florida (along the Apalachicola River) and the southwestern Appalachian Mountains, where it would have lived in warmer times. "Might this ancient Torreya actually have been growing as a wild, native tree when the early white settlers built their first homes there?" asks Connie. And might Torreya seeds have used the river to quickly migrate south downstream, but had only squirrels for help in moving back north?  24 minutes - published February 26, 2015

Connie Barlow identifies sites for 18 seeds of Torreya taxifolia to be planted in the moist, cool habitat of Grotto Ravine, within Shoal Sanctuary, Florida. Connie walks with camera through the ravine, speaking about why this spring-fed sandstone ravine in the Florida panhandle might be the best place for Florida Torreya to make a last stand in its home state. Clips of this video appear in the video documentation 4 years later (VIDEO 31, filmed onsite January 2019).

    28 minutes - published February 21, 2015

Chris Larson of Shoal Sanctuary, Florida, shows the four Torreya trees thriving since their planting in 2001. Of note: (1) only one tree has grown reproductive structures (male); (2) one survived a severe burn amid the longleaf pines; (3) all are thriving in nearly full sunlight on sandy soils; (4) agricultural lime is applied only rarely (when the evergreen leaves show yellowing); and (5) all four specimens are watered twice weekly.

10 minutes - published February 17, 2015

Fred Bess and Connie Barlow interview Secrest Arboretum's Paul Snyder re the successful germination of seeds from the 2011 seed harvest of Torreya Guardians. They discuss germination time, growth characteristics, preventing tree injury by overpopulated deer, and ultimately where in the arboretum the young trees will be planted.

11 minutes - published October 7, 2014

Fred Bess reports on 5 young Torreya trees planted at his in Parma, OHIO (a suburb of Cleveland). Significant findings: (1) All 5 survived the -17F degrees polar vortex of January 2014. (2) Although deer do not eat Torreya, bucks scrape antlers on the stiff branches of juvenile plants, causing injury. Thus any Torreya planted in areas overpopulated with deer must protect young trees during autumn. WATCH VIDEO 27, filmed October 2018 to see how these trees have matured — and seeded!

9 minutes - published April 11, 2014

Consensus is growing that, of all trees native to the USA, "Florida" Torreya (an evergreen conifer related to yew trees) is the most in need of immediate assistance in moving north, as it was "left behind" in a peak glacial refugium since the end of the last ice advance. Given adequate seed stock, Connie Barlow decided it was crucial to discover just how far north in today's climate Torreya can grow. Here she documents an experiment.

29 minutes - published September 26, 2014

Climate is warming too fast for large-seeded plant species to migrate north via the animal partners (e.g., squirrels) that have dependably dispersed seeds for millions of years. In 2008, a group of citizen-naturalists (Torreya Guardians) legally planted 31 seedlings of the endangered Florida conifer Torreya taxifolia within private forests in the mountains of North Carolina. Connie Barlow reports their learnings during the first five years.

75 minutes - published November 7, 2013

The "assisted migration" ongoing project of Torreya Guardians is regularly cited in academic literature on climate adaptation controversies in biodversity and ecosystems protection. Here, Connie Barlow presents the first (highly illustrated) talk to professionals. Speaking to faculty and students at Michigan Technological University's School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, Barlow presents the history of the "assisted migration" controversy — highlighting the reasons why foresters have already taken actions where conservation biologists fear to tread. (filmed Sept 11, 2015)

Note: This video is episode 08 in an ongoing video series by Barlow on forestry and climate adaptation. See an annotated list of titles and links to all such videos here: "CLIMATE, TREES, and LEGACY".