Torreya

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Divisio: Tracheophyta
Divisio: Pinophyta
Classis: Pinopsida
Ordo: Pinales

Familia: Taxaceae
Genus: Torreya
Species: T. californica – T. dapanshanica – T. fargesii – T. grandis – T. jackii – T. nucifera – T. taxifolia
Disputed taxa: T. jiulongshanensis – T. yunnanensis
Paleospecies: †T. clarnensis – †T. masonii
Name

Torreya Arn., Ann. Nat. Hist. 1: 130 (1838), nom. cons.

Type species: Torreya taxifolia Arn. Ann. Nat. Hist. 1: 130 (1838).

Synonymy

Heterotypic
Struvea Rchb., Deut. Bot. Herb.-Buch: 222 (1841), nom. inval.
Caryotaxus Zucc. ex Henkel & W.Hochst., Syn. Nadelhölz.: 366 (1865)
Foetataxus J.Nelson, Pinaceae: 167 (1866)
Tumion Raf. ex Greene, Pittonia 2: 195 (1891)

Homonyms

Torreya Raf., Amer. Monthly Mag. & Crit. Rev. 3: 356 (1818) (Lamiaceae Martinov), nom. rej.
Torreya Raf., J. Phys. Chim. Hist. Nat. Arts 89: 105 (1819) (Lamiaceae Martinov)
Torreya Spreng., Neue Entdeck. Pflanzenk. 2: 121 (1820) (Verbenaceae J.St.-Hil.), nom. rej.
Torreya A.A.Eaton, Man. Bot. (ed. 5) 420 (1829) (Loasaceae Juss.), nom. rej.
Torreya Croom ex Meisn., Pl. Vasc. Gen. 340 (1843) (Stemonaceae Caruel)

References
Primary references

Arnott, G.A.W. 1838. On the Genus Torreya. Annals of Natural History 1(2): 126–132. BHL Reference page.

Additional references

Meyer, H.W. & Manchester, S.R. 1997. The Oligocene Bridge Creek flora of the John Day Formation, Oregon. University of California Publications in the Geological Sciences 141: 1–364. ISBN 978-0-520-09816-9. Reference page.
Lu, Y.-F., Chen, Z.-L., He, A.-G., Liu, J.-L., Wang, P., Chen, W.-J. & Jin, X.F. 2022. Torreya dapanshanica (Taxaceae), a new species of gymnosperm from Zhejiang, East China. PhytoKeys 192: 29–36. DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.192.79506 Open access Reference page.
Miao, Z.P., Niu, X.N., Wang, R.B., Huang, L., Ma, B.B., Li, J.H. & Hong, X. 2022. Study of the genus Torreya (Taxaceae) based on chloroplast genomes. Frontiers in Bioscience (Landmark Edition) 27(1, 009): 1–9. DOI: 10.31083/j.fbl2701009 Open access Reference page.

Links

Govaerts, R. et al. 2022. Torreya in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2022 Feb. 18. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2022. Torreya. Published online. Accessed: Feb. 18 2022.
Tropicos.org 2022. Torreya. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 18 Feb. 2022.

Vernacular names
Deutsch: Nusseiben
English: Nutmeg Yew
suomi: Torreiat
македонски: Оревна тиса
norsk: Nøttebarlindslekten
русский: Торрея

Torreya is a genus of conifers comprising six or seven species placed in the family Taxaceae, though sometimes formerly placed in Cephalotaxaceae.[2][3] Four species are native to eastern Asia; the other two are native to North America. They are small to medium-sized evergreen trees reaching 5–20 m, rarely 25 m, tall. Common names include nutmeg yew.[4]

The genus is one example of the Arcto-Tertiary Geoflora in paleoecology. The pattern of highly disjunct distribution of geographic ranges of the species within such a genus spans temperate plant zones of continents in the Northern Hemisphere. This geographic pattern is attributed to genus origins in much warmer times of the Tertiary Period, when zones of temperate climate were found in poleward latitudes whereby land connections facilitated range expansions and migrations of plants between Asia and North America and sometimes between Europe and North America.[5]

The leaves are spirally arranged on the shoots, but twisted at the base to lie in two flat ranks; they are linear, 2–8 cm long and 3–4 mm broad, hard in texture, with a sharp spine tip.

Torreya can be monoecious, dioecious, or subdioecious (documented in Japanese Torreya and Florida Torreya).[6][7] When monoecious, the male and female cones are often on different branches. The male (pollen) cones are 5–8 mm long, grouped in lines along the underside of a shoot. The female (seed) cones are single or grouped two to eight together on a short stem; minute at first, they mature in about 18 months to a drupe-like structure with the single large nut-like seed 2–4 cm long surrounded by a fleshy covering, green to purple at full maturity. In some species, notably the Japanese Torreya nucifera ('kaya'), and unusually for members of Taxaceae, the seed is edible. Natural dispersal is thought to be aided by squirrels which bury the seeds for a winter food source; any seeds left uneaten are then able to germinate.

The genus is named after the American botanist John Torrey.
Fossil record

†Torreya clarnensis has been described from Middle Eocene fossils found in the Clarno Formation of Central Oregon, United States.[8] Leafy branch fossils of †Torreya bilinica are known from Oligocene strata of Zichov near Bílina, Czech Republic, early Miocene deposits of Güvem central Anatolia, Turkey and late Miocene deposits of Spain. A single Torreya nucifera needle leaf is known from a late Miocene deposit in Abkhazia. More complete records of Torreya nucifera are known from Pliocene deposits of France.[9]

Fossil pollen of genus Torreya and other genera within Taxaceae is generally deemed indistinguishable, one from another, and also from genera within families Taxodiaceae and Cupressaceae.[10] Therefore, it is generally difficult to support past presence or absence of such genera in geographic locales where macrofossil plant material is rare or absent, even if substantial pollen (as in Quaternary bogs) is available.
Species

Image	Scientific name	Common Name	Distribution	Description
	Torreya californica	California torreya	California, USA	endemic in California. It is the largest species, reaching 25 m tall.
	Torreya fargesii	Farges nutmeg tree	China: Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Yunnan provinces, and possibly in Anhui
	Torreya grandis	Chinese nutmeg yew	China: Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Guizhou, Hunan, and Jiangxi
	Torreya jackii	Jack's nutmeg tree, longleaf torreya, Jack torreya, and weeping torreya	China, in Zhejiang, Fujian, and Jiangxi provinces
	Torreya nucifera	kaya, Japanese torreya, or Japanese nutmeg-yew.	southern Japan and to South Korea's Jeju Island
	Torreya taxifolia	Florida torreya or gopher wood	restricted habitat within Torreya State Park, along the east bank of the Apalachicola River in the Florida Panhandle and immediately adjacent southernmost Georgia

References

Camp, W. H.; Rickett, H. W.; Weatherby, C. A. (1947). "International rules of botanical nomenclature, Appendix III: Nomina Generica Conservanda". Brittonia. 6 (1): 1–120 (Section 10, page 47). doi:10.2307/2804665. JSTOR 2804665.
Christenhusz, J. M. M.; Reveal, J. L.; Martin, F. G.; Robert, R. M.; Chase, W. M. (2011). "Linear sequence, classification, synonymy, and bibliography of vascular plants: Lycophytes, ferns, gymnosperms and angiosperms" (PDF). Phytotaxa. 19: 1–134. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.19.1.1. hdl:10138/28914.
Cope, Edward A (1998). "Taxaceae: The Genera and Cultivated Species". Botanical Review. 64 (4): 291–322. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
Eckenwalder, J.E. 2009. Conifers of the World: The Complete Reference. Timber Press.
Donaghue, Michael (November 2001). "Phylogenetic Patterns in Northern Hemisphere Plant Geography". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 162 (S6). Retrieved 19 July 2021.
"Torreya nucifera / Japanese nutmeg-yew". American Conifer Society. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
"About Torreya taxifolia". Torreya Guardians. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
Manchester, S.R. (1994). "Fruits and Seeds of the Middle Eocene Nut Beds Flora, Clarno Formation, Oregon". Palaeontographica Americana. 58: 30–31.
The early Miocene flora of Güvem (Central Anatolia, Turkey): A window into early Neogene vegetation and environments in the Eastern Mediterranean by Thomas Denk, Tuncay H Güner, Zlatko Kvaček and Johannes M Bouchal - Acta Palaeobotanica 2017 - DOI: 101515/acpa-2017-0011

Bouchal, Johannes (2020). "Low taxonomic resolution of papillate Cupressaceae pollen (former Taxodiaceae) impairs their applicability for palaeo-habitat reconstruction". Grana. 59 (1): 71-93. doi:10.1080/00173134.2019.1701704.

Gymnosperm Database: Torreya
Native Conifers of North America: Torreya
Pinetum.org: photos of Torreya californica
Pinetum.org: photos of Torreya nucifera
Proposals for Torreya taxifolia re-establishment
Torreya State Park (Florida)