Genetic evidence clears Ben Franklin: Invasive tree afflicting Gulf Coast was not brought to U.S. by famed statesman

The DNA evidence is in, and Ben Franklin didn't do it. Genetic tests on more than 1,000 Chinese tallow trees from the United States and China show that Franklin did not import the tallow trees that are overrunning thousands of acres of U.S. coastal prairie from Florida to East Texas. The study found that the invasive strain of the tree was likely imported by federal biologists around 1905.

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