FRANKLINIA

also called Franklin Tree (Franklinia, or Gordonia, alatamaha), small tree of the tea family (Theaceae), native to the southeastern United States. It was first identified in 1765 by the botanist John Bartram along the Altamaha River near Fort Barrington, Georgia, and named in honour of Benjamin Franklin. The tree or small shrub is now known only in cultivation, no longer being found in the wild. It grows up to 9 m (30 feet) in height, has large leaves, and produces large, nearly stalkless, cupped white flowers from midsummer to frost. All the franklinias now in existence were propagated from the seeds and plants collected by Bartram. The franklinia is sometimes known as mountainbay (Gordonia alatamaha) because of its similarities to loblolly-bay (G. lasianthus).