This species of Gordonia appears to be restricted by nature within very narrow bounds, "Having hitherto," says Michaux, "been found only on the banks of the Altamaha, in the State of Georgia." It was first discovered there by John Bartram in 1770, who gave it its specific name. In height it rarely exceeds thirty feet, with a diameter of six or seven inches. It blooms in Carolina about the beginning of July, and a month later near Philadelphia. The flowers are more than an inch in diameter, white, and of an agreeable odor. They have a slight resemblance to those of the Dogwood. Like those of the Loblolly Bay, they open in succession during two or three months, and begin to appear when the tree is only three or four feet high. The fruit is in the form of round, ligneous capsules, which, when ripe, open at the summit in four seams to release the small angular seeds.

Although the Franklinii is found two or three degrees further south than the Loblolly Bay, it appears to be far less sensible to cold, and stands the climate well near Philadelphia, and will perhaps resist the winters higher north.