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Taxaceae FAMILY Least Concern

Torreya nucifera

Torreya nucifera

Edibility
4/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Tree
GrowthSlow

Torreya nucifera is fairly cold hardy when dormant, able to tolerate temperatures falling to between -17.7°c and -12.2°c[1]. Succeeds in ordinary garden soil, tolerating some lime[2]. Prefers an acid soil[3]. Dislikes wind exposure[3]. Requires a sheltered position and either high humidity or a moist riverside soil[3]. Tolerates woodland shade very well, but only tolerates full sun in climates with cool summers[3, 4]. Requires hot, very humid summers for best growth[3]. Species in this genus are generally adapted to growing in primary woodland. The seedlings are very shade tolerant, establishing well in the deeper shade of a woodland and then growing up to the light. They can sometimes be found growing in secondary vegetation, but they do not usually persist, being outcompeted by other, more light-tolerant species[1]. A tree at Wakehurst Place was 11 metres tall in 1970[5]. A shrub growing in the shade of coniferous trees at Kew was about 2.5 metres tall and 4 metres wide in September 1993[PFAF], it was carrying a very heavy crop of fruit[PFAF]. No fruit was formed in 1994[PFAF]. A specimen at Cambridge Botanical Gardens was 6 metres tall and 6 metres wide, it was carrying an enormous crop of seed in the late summer of 1996[PFAF]. This plant has an excellent potential as a nut crop in Britain[PFAF]. A slow-growing tree[4]. Sometimes cultivated for its edible seed in Japan, the variety 'Shibunashigaya' is considered to be the best for seed production[6]. This tree is widely planted near temples and in parks and gardens in Japan; all trees north of Tokyo are thought to be originally planted (Wilson 1916) and some of these are champion trees much larger than most trees growing wild in the forests[7]. In Europe and North America it is an uncommon ornamental shrub or tree in arboreta, botanic gardens, and occasionally in private gardens[7]. The seed takes two summers to mature[8]. Plants are dioecious so both male and female plants are required if seed is to be produced. Occasional trees are monoecious with dioecious branches. Solitary trees have been seen on a number of occasions with heavy crops of fertile seed, so it would appear that the tree is not dioecious[PFAF].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame. Some of the seed should germinate in the following spring though much of it might take another 12 months. Stored seed requires a period of cold stratification and can take 18 months or more to germinate. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots as soon as growth is observed and grow them on in light shade in the greenhouse for at least the next couple of winters, making sure to pot them on into larger pots as and when required. Plant them out into their permanent positions in early summer when the plants are at least 20cm tall. Cuttings of half-ripe shoots in late summer[2]. Cuttings do not grow well[9]. Layering. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Torreya+nucifera>

Pollinators

Wind

References

  1. [1]The Gymnosperm Database — http://www.conifers.org/index.htm ↩︎A vast amount of information on conifers and families of gymnosperms.
  2. [2]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  3. [3]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  4. [4]KemperCentreForHomeGardeningPlantFinder — Missouri Botanical Garden · http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/ ↩︎Basic cultivation details, plant uses, habitat etc for several thousand species of plants, mainly from the temperate zone.
  5. [5]Conifers in the British Isles. — Mitchell. A. F. · HMSO · 1975 · ISBN 0-11-710012-9 ↩︎A bit out of date (first published in 1972), but an excellent guide to how well the various species of conifers grow in Britain giving locations of trees.
  6. [6]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  7. [7]IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — http://www.iucnredlist.org/ ↩︎A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.
  8. [8]The Complete Trees of N. America. Field Guide and Natural History. — Elias. T. · Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. · 1980 · ISBN 0442238622 ↩︎A very good concise guide. Gives habitats, good descriptions, maps showing distribution and a few of the uses. It also includes the many shrubs that occasionally reach tree proportions.
  9. [9]Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. — Bean. W. · Murray · 1981 · ISBN - ↩︎A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.
  10. [10]Flora of China — Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. · 1994 · http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available.
  11. [11]Nuts. — Howes. F. N. · Faber · 1948 · ISBN - ↩︎Rather old but still a masterpiece. Has sections on tropical and temperate plants with edible nuts plus a section on nut plants in Britain. Very readable.
  12. [12]Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World. — Tanaka. T. & Nakao S. · Keigaku Publishing; Tokyo · 1976 · ISBN - ↩︎The most comprehensive list of edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.
  13. [13]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  14. [14]Chinese Materia Medica. — Stuart. Rev. G. A. · Taipei. Southern Materials Centre · 1911 · ISBN - ↩︎A translation of an ancient Chinese herbal. Fascinating.
  15. [15]Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. — Hedrick. U. P. · Dover Publications · 1972 · ISBN 0-486-20459-6 ↩︎Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
  16. [16]Fire Effects Information System — http://www.feis-crs.org/feis/ ↩︎An on-line information site with comprehensive information on over 1,100 species of plant. Mainly developed to supply information on the effects of fire on plants and animals, it also contains a wealth of other information on the plants
  17. [17]A Barefoot Doctors Manual. — ? · Running Press; Philadelphica. · 1977 · ISBN 0-914294-92-X ↩︎A very readable herbal from China, combining some modern methods with traditional chinese methods.
  18. [18]Medicinal Plants of China — Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. · Reference Publications, Inc. · 1985 · ISBN 0-917256-20-4 ↩︎Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.
  19. [19]Medicinal Plants in the Republic of Korea — World Health Organisation, Manila · 1998 · ISBN 92 9061 120 0 ↩︎An excellent book with terse details about the medicinal uses of the plants with references to scientific trials. All plants are described, illustrated and brief details of habitats given.
  20. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎