The horrer

[havalotta]

The evildoers of the plant world lurking in your own homes and backyards!


http://www.ncarboretum.org/wp-conten...ideNEW_web.pdf

North carolina Arboretum in Ashville

Quite an interesting show!

[amelanchier]

I've been to that arboretum. Nice, big place! They have one of those super-rare trees from the southern Appalachians... Forgetting the name now. Starts with an F. I think.

[havalotta]

If I was anywhere near I'd be going to it myself!
Are you thinking of the Fraser fir they are speaking about here?

The little tarantula creates tube-shaped webs in moss mats that grow on rocks underneath spruce and Fraser fir trees of the southern Appalachian Mountains. These conditions have become increasingly rare, as many Fraser fir trees have been wiped out by the balsam woolly adelgid, an invasive species from Europe.

[amelanchier]

No, it's a delicate deciduous understory tree. Wish I could remember!

Fraser firs will survive up here if not in their native range. A lot of Christmas tree farms plant them. (But our native balsam fir is the most popular Christmas tree here still.)

[amelanchier]

Here it is!

Franklinia alatamaha

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklinia

Only species in the genus, and it's actually extinct in the wild!

[katjh]

I've never heard of that tree! It's beautiful. The arboretum looks like a fascinating place to visit. Wish I lived a bit closer,too.

[havalotta]

It says

It frequently suckers and can form several vertical trunks close to ground level

If it suckers so readily, you'd think they'd have no problem reestablishing it in the wild..

[jack]

Seems like it would make for a very special addition to any rural garden. It's got form and beauty, and it's a challenge, something many of us enjoy to a certain degree. I note, however, that growing this plant can be quite the challenge.

It's great that the species is still surviving!!!