Japanese Toreja (Torreya nucifera)
Appearance: Evergreen, dioecious conifer tree up to approx 10 m, sometimes a shrub, with a slender crown, conical, more often, however, irregularly built.
Partly whorl branches, generally, however, arranged in a spiral, what causes, that the tree has a slightly irregular habit,
The bark of young specimens is light, brown-orange, later brown or reddish brown,
Quite large heels, length more or less 3 cm and width about 3 mm, bright green and slightly shiny on the upper side, yellowish green on the underside, with two whitish, wide longitudinal stripes, They feel leathery and stiff to the touch, strongly sharpened at the front, regularly arranged in two rows on the shoot, and in relation to each other in parallel, therefore the ends of the twigs are comb-shaped. When rubbed, the pins give off a strong one, quite unpleasant smell.
Male flowers are very small, only in length 2 mm, yellowish or light green. The female flowers are also rather modest at first. Semen at the time of ripening (from about September) educated similarly to the domestic yew (str. 86), length approx 2 cm, however less hard, fleshy-oily and covered with a brown-green coating. This envelope is not so glass-like open, as for specimens of the genus Taxus.
Occurrence: The homeland of this species is Japan. In the Mediterranean it is planted quite often as an ornamental tree. Outside of these regions, it is rarely found in gardens or in botanical collections, Flowering period: June to July. A related species:
So California (Torreya caiifomica) she is the North American cousin of the previous genre. It is significantly larger – reaches an increase of approx 30 m – and it can be beautiful, regularly, whorl branched. Her high heels are quite stiff, equilibrium, slightly pointed at the front, with a length of approx 5 cm, arranged in two rows and parallel to each other, When rubbed, they give a distinct scent similar to that of sage. Seeds at ripening (in the fall) have a length from 3 do 7 cm and are covered with greenish, uneven envelope, which sometimes has purple longitudinal stripes. The flowering period is in May. Californian Toreja is planted somewhat more often in parks and gardens than its East Asian cousin.
General thoughts: On the example of the natural distribution of both species of the genus Torreya can be shown, that certain genera often have partial ranges in Asia and North America, while they are absent in Europe. This type of distribution is a consequence of glacial ages, which caused the extinction of many species in Europe.