Torreya taxifolia in Peoria, ILLINOIS private landowner, Christopher Hutson CHRISTOPHER HUTSON volunteered to plant Florida torreya, Spring 2024. Connie Barlow sent him 20 seeds that she had stratified in Michigan for 1 winter, using seeds from our Cleveland OHIO planter, Fred Bess. The seeds came from his fall 2023 harvest, so Chris was told he would need to winter stratify them once more, and then some (but now all) would germinate Spring 2025. Chris wrote that his property is in the Kickapoo Creek watershed and includes:   "... a steep ravine with sandstone outcrops. The stone is friable and some of the soil further down consists of the stone turning back into sand. The soil at the top is heavier clay with organic material, and for the most part becomes thinner and more mineral the further down you go. There are a variety of moisture areas at different spots, from spots that get fairly dry in the summer to spots that stay moist, and a section of slope where water seeps out that is permanently soaking wet gravel. "The natural vegetation is dominated by sugar maple and northern red oak, and also includes basswood, hophornbeam, black cherry, ohio buckeye, shagbark hickory, elms, ashes, hackberry, wild hydrangea, viburnum, and gray dogwood, with lots of spring ephemeral and other wildflowers and various ferns." Chris reported that, while deer are around, the steepness of slopes (see photos below) may be the reason that herbs relished by deer have not been exterminated. He reports, "I do have lots of Trillium (T. recurvatum, specifically), as well as bloodroots, spring beauty, dutchmen breeches, may apples, yellow bellwort, hepatica, wild ginger and more. I don't see the deer back in there often or have much trouble with them in my garden, even though they're abundant in the area. I think they don't like the slopes when there's easier ground to traverse elsewhere." The steepness of the slope, with lots of Christmas ferns under a deciduous canopy, look like ideal habitat. BELOW LEFT: The were put into "some potting soil that I mixed mycorrhizal inoculant into. I try to keep it slightly moist." NOVEMBER 2024 he wrote: "I have them sitting in a pot of soil in a part of my basement that gets cold in the winter." ABOVE RIGHT and BELOW: Germination happened in late March, 2025. Germinated seeds were then planted into individual containers. Chris wrote on 25 March 2025: "A little while ago, I put the pot outside in the sun and the rain, moving it back into the garage when it began freezing overnight again. I accidentally knocked it over, and guess what? Germination! So, after work today, I went through the pot and transferred all the seeds that had already germinated into individual containers. Out of 19 total seeds, 13 had germinated and six had not." WWW www.TorreyaGuardians.org Return to HOME PAGE