John Bartram was a Quaker farmer near Philadelphia in the mid 18th century. So how did he become North America's first great botanist? And how did he and his son William find themselves in the wilds of southeastern Georgia, fighting off rain, hunger and mosquitos, in order to find the rare and beautiful Franklin Tree (Franklinia alatamaha)? Come hear the story about why this tree at Bartram's Garden symbolizes the spirit of science and discovery.

Guest
Tom Reber
Director of Landscape and Facilities
Bartram's Garden
Philadelphia, PA

Readers
Nigel Holmes
Mike Savard
Mike Sweney
Josh Abrams

Harpsichord Music performed by Miyuke Tsurutani
"The Saint Catherine," John Barrett
"Saraband," John Barrett
"Hornpipe," Henry Purcell
"Ground," John Blow

References
"The Life and Travels of John Bartram: From Lake Ontario to the River St. John," by Edmund Berkeley and Dorothy Smith Berkeley. University Press of Florida, 1982.

"The Correspondence of John Bartram, 1734 - 1777," edited by Edmund Berkeley and Dorothy Smith Berkeley. University Press of Florida, 1992.

"Franklinia alatamaha, A History of That 'Very Curious' Shrub," by Joel Fry. Bartram's Broadside, Winter 2000. 

Theme Music
Diccon Lee, www.deeleetree.com

Artwork
Dahn Hiuni, www.dahnhiuni.com/home

Website
thisoldtree.show
Transcripts available.

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We want to hear about the favorite tree in your life! To submit a ~4 or 5 minute audio story for consideration for an upcoming episode of "Tree Story Shorts" on This Old Tree, record the story on your phone’s voice memo app and email to:
doug@thisoldtree.net

This episode was written in part at LitArts RI, a community organization and co-working space that supports Rhode Island's creators.
litartsri.org