Posts : 661 Join date : 2012-01-26 Location : ~~WonDerLanD~~
Subject: ~~One of rarest flowers in world~~ Sat Jan 28, 2012 3:47 pm
One of the rarest flowers in the world which is now extinct in the wild has been successfully grown in a part of Britain where it disappeared 200 years ago.
The Franklinia alatamaha – known as the Franklin tree – has large fragrant, cup-shaped, snow-white blooms and is part of the tea family.
It was first discovered in 1765 by Philadelphia botanists John and William Bartram who named it after close friend Benjamin Franklin.
They found the Franklin tree on the banks of the Altamaha River in Georgia, USA, but it has been extinct in the wild since 1800s.
The plant is now only found in a handful of places on the planet but has now been cultivated at the Trewithen Estate nursery near Truro, Cornwall.