The Florida Torreya is one of the world’s rarest conifers! It is found only on the steep slopes of the Apalachicola River and essentially all in a single state park. The vast majority of trees were wiped out by a fungal blight leaving maybe 500 individual trees alive and of those only 10 or so that are capable of reproduction. One theory surrounding this species is that the very hard seeds may have had to pass through the digestive track of a long extinct large tortoise in order for them to properly germinate. There may be little hope for the future of this tree in the wild but conservation efforts are ongoing.