• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Cure Nursery

Native Plants of the Southeast

  • Home
  • All Plants
    • Search Our Plants by Plant Characteristics
    • Alphabetical by Scientific Name
    • Search Our Plants by Common Names
  • Availability & Pricing – Winter/Spring 2021
  • Resources
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Franklinia alatamaha
Ben Franklin Tree, Franklinia, Franklintree, Mountain Bay

Photo by Cure Nursery

One reason the Ben Franklin tree is grown is because it is attractive: fragrant, 3-inch flowers with delicate white petals and thick, bushy golden stamens, and foliage that is handsome, with outstanding fall coloration (red, purple, orange). But mostly it is grown because it is rare and has a great story. In colonial days, John Bartram, the king’s official botanist for the colonies, came across a stand of this small, ornamental tree on the banks of the Altamaha River in Georgia. He and one of his sons, William, grew this tree in their garden in Philadelphia (America’s first botanical garden), and named the tree after a friend of the family, Ben Franklin. The tree has been documented to occur naturally nowhere else than these few acres next to the river, and disappeared even from there in the early 19th century. So all of the living specimens of this species are descended from the collections of the Bartrams. “They” say the Ben Franklin tree is easier to grow in a pot than in soil, and happier in the north than in the south where it was native. It can be finicky, preferring well drained sandy soil with lots of irrigation in dry times, susceptible to root rot, but when it is happy it is happy and a treat to look at. Skinny if grown as a single stem, it is quite full and impressive when grown multi-stemmed, flowering from July into fall, even as the foliage is turning colorful. It is in the Theaceae, along with Camellias, Gordonia, and Stewartias.

Last Updated: May 21, 2019

Key Info

Scientific Name: Franklinia alatamaha W. Bartram ex Marshall Synonyms: Gordonia alatamaha, Gordonia pubescens
Common Names: Ben Franklin Tree, Franklinia, Franklintree, Mountain Bay
Family Name: Theaceae (Tea Family)
Plant Type: Tree / Shrub
Uses: Shrub Border, Woodland Garden, Naturalizing, Specimen, Hedge, Container, Foundation
Light Requirement: Full sun, Partial/sunny
Moisture Requirement: Medium, Moist well drained
Leaf Retention: Deciduous
Bloom Times: Jul, Aug, Sep
Flower Color: White
Special Characteristics: Attracts bees, Attracts butterflies, Good fall color, Slow growing, Good wildlife cover, habitat

Additional Info

Habit: Franklinia can be grown as a single-stemmed small tree, or as a multi-stemmed shrub. The crown is rounded (pyramidal when young) with many stems originating near the base. The bark is showy, marked with prominent vertical white ridges. The texture is medium to dense. The root system is not strong, hence the need for irrigation and/or protection from direct sun in the afternoons in the South.
Height: 15' - 20'
Spread: 15' to 20'
Growth Rate: Slow
Soil Conditions: Moist, acidic, organically rich, well-drained soils: sandy, sandy loam, medium loam.
Leaves: Alternately arranged leaves are simple, 6-8 inches long, obovate, with serrated margins, deep green above, pubescent below, turning strong colors in fall,
Flowers (or reproductive structures): Spherical flower buds open successively forming solitary, cup-shaped single-camellia-shaped flowers with 5 bright white translucent petals and many golden stamens
Fruit: Flowers are followed by small, woody capsules 1 inch in diameter with ten segments, each containing five seeds.
Natural Distribution: Extinct in the wild.
USDA Hardiness Zone: 5 to 8
USDA Wetland Indicator Status in NC: not available.
Pollination: No info on the internet. We'll have to watch!
Downside: Susceptible to phytophthora root rot, a fatal soil-borne disease, in heavy, wet soils during hot weather. Not tolerant of clay soil.
Propagation: Franklinia is grown from seeds and also from cuttings taken in late summer or fall.

Availability

This plant is not currently available.

Footer

contact us

facebook.com/curenursery
curenursery@earthlink.net
Office: (919) 542-6186

Appointments: (919) 885-8642

Who we are

Cure Nursery is a small nursery propagating and selling native plants for the Southeastern U.S. We are located near the town of Pittsboro, Chatham County, in central NC.

our hours

Cure Nursery operates by appointment only. Call us or email us to arrange a time to come out, or for delivery.

Copyright © 2021 Cure Nursery · All Rights Reserved · Resources · Website by Tomatillo Design