Surviving Extinction: the Mystery and Majesty of Franklinia
Schedule
Sun Jan 12 2025 at 02:00 pm to 03:30 pm
UTC-05:00Location
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Athens - Georgia | Athens, GA
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We're lucky that we have been able to reschedule this talk, which unexpectedly had to be cancelled in November!Our speaker, Heather Gladfelter, will share the story of the discovery of Franklinia alatamaha (sometimes called Ben Franklin tree), a native Georgia plant first discovered in the 1700s that is now extinct in the wild. We'll learn about the collection of its seed and its fascination among gardeners in early America and royalty and high society in Europe, followed by the mystery behind its rapid disappearance in the wild. Heather will also take us through the current research efforts to maintain Franklinia’s existence and restoration back into its native habitat in Georgia along the Altamaha River.
Heather was born and raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She has always loved gardening since a child and by having a fantastic Horticulture teacher in high school, led her to where she is now, conducting research on rare and endangered plant species.
She received her bachelor’s and master’s in Horticulture at New Mexico State and PhD in Horticulture at UGA. During these years, she has used plant tissue culture and molecular biology to propagate plants, study plant growth and development, and engineer disease resistance in plants plagued by plant pathogens and pests such as ash trees, American Chestnut, and Franklinia.
As an extra bonus, Heather will bring Franklinia alatamaha plants to sell as a way to help fund her research. Plants are $10 each and payment is cash only, please.
The plants are currently in 4” pots and will need to be repotted in the Spring and protected in the winter from the cold. The trees cannot be planted in the ground due to the root rot disease caused by Phytophthora cinnamomi which is prevalent in soils where cotton was farmed in the southeast.
These plants were produced from tissue culture and originate from a tree in North Georgia that is genetically identical to a Franklinia tree herbarium specimen from 1842 at the Royal Botanical Garden in Edinburgh, Scotland.
A care card will be provided with the plants to assist in the care of the Franklinia trees.
This event is free and open to the public regardless of whether you are or are not a member of the Athens-East Piedmont Chapter of the GNPS. The event will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Athens, but this event is not sponsored by the UUFA.
We meet in the Eskildsen Multi-Purpose Room.
*In exchange for allowing groups to use the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Athens’s meeting spaces for free, they do ask that we take a collection during our meeting asking for donations to the UUFA. There is no obligation that you provide a donation in order to attend these meetings, and if you choose to donate, there’s no requirement as to the amount. These donations go to cover things like utilities and for their generous agreement to provide us with access to the facility outside of normal hours.
Following the meeting, those who are interested may participate in a native plant seed swap. Bring any seed you have to share and swap (native plants only, please). Or just come and go home with some free seed!
*Please be sure to clearly label any seed you bring with common and scientific name. Smallish amounts of seed in ziplocs or small envelopes are the best. We will bring some extra envelopes if you need them
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Where is it happening?
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Athens - Georgia, 780 Timothy Rd, Athens, GA 30606-4440, United States,Athens, GeorgiaEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
