Populations of Torreya taxifolia were thriving until the 1950s, but since then they have been decimated by fungal disease (R. L. Godfrey and H. Kurz 1962). Only nonreproductive stump sprouts remain in the wild. The Florida torreya was listed as federally endangered in 1984 under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, and efforts are underway to reestablish this once thriving species in its native habitat (L. R. McMahan 1989).
