Franklinia alatamaha Bartr. Ex Marsh (Theaceae)a Monotypic Genus; Is it the lost Camellia or Gordonia?

Franklinia is a monotypic genus, known from the southeastern coastal plains of the United States and is now extinct in wild. It was known from a single wild population in Georgia in the late 1800 s, but now remains in cultivation in the arboreta [1]. Some available literature suggest that Franklinia alatamaha is synonymous with Gordonia lasianthus and it is often recognized as a distinct species of Gordonia. Some researchers believe it was introduced to America in mid 1700 by the British and is closely related to Camellia sinensis [2]. In the present study we analyzed its anatomical similarities with Camellia, Gordonia and Stewartia which would assist in evaluating its closest relative and probability of its use as herbal tea. Macro-morphological characters, such as leaf shape, stomata and hair type as well as micro-morphological characters were compared and analyzed. Acknowledgements: This research is funded in part by “Botanical Dietary Supplements: Science-Base for Authentication” funded by Food and Drug Administration grant number 2 U01 FD 002071-06. References: [1] www.terrain.org/articles/18/Rowland.htm. [2] Prince LM, Parks CR (2001) American Journal of Botany 88: 2309–2320.