ArborNote’s Tree of the Week is the Franklin Tree (Franklinia alatamaha). It’s a small, flowering tree that grows between 16 and 20 ft. The flowers are fairly large and striking, measuring 3–4 in across. They are solitary and each has five creamy–white petals surrounding golden-yellow stamens. It is native to the Altamaha River valley in Georgia in the southeastern United States. It has been extinct in the wild since the early 19th century, but survives as a cultivated ornamental tree. The cause of its extinction in the wild is not known, but has been attributed to a number of causes including fire, flood, overcollection by plant collectors, and fungal disease introduced with the cultivation of cotton plants. There have been efforts to reintroduce the species to its native habitat. Twenty-four individuals were planted between 2002 and 2003 in the Altamaha Wildlife Management Area; however, they were unsuccessful. All the Franklin trees known to exist today are descended from seed collected by William Bartram and propagated at Bartram’s Garden in Philadelphia.