Torreya californica

California-nutmeg

Family: Taxaceae · Type: tree · Native

California-nutmeg is a native tree found in northern coastal California, northern Coast Ranges, California Roaring Fork region, Sierra Nevada, San Francisco Bay Area, and southern Coast Ranges in shady moist canyons within forest or woodland at elevations of 10 to 2,100 meters. Its dark green leaves with distinctive yellow longitudinal grooves suggest a unique appearance, though no specific flowering details are available. Growing to 20 meters tall with a trunk less than 1.5 meters wide, this tree has a relatively smooth or slightly fissured bark tinged with orange-brown. Its leaves are arranged in two ranks, presenting a dark green color on top and a lighter yellow-green underneath. The tree produces large oblong seeds 25 to 45 millimeters long with longitudinal grooves along their surface.

Habitat: Shady moist canyons in forest or woodland, occasionally chaparral

Elevation: 10-2100 m

Bioregions: NCo, NCoR, CaRF, SN, SnFrB, SCoR.

California counties: Lake, Marin, Mariposa, Napa, Fresno, Butte, San Benito, Placer, Mendocino, Calaveras, San Mateo, Tulare, Santa Clara, Sonoma, Tehama, Santa Cruz, Humboldt, Siskiyou, Tuolumne, El Dorado, Shasta, Monterey, Colusa, Yolo, Kern, Trinity, Amador, Alameda, Madera, Solano, Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Diego

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.