Magnolia Tree and Flower

Magnolia is a large genus of about 210 flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae of the family Magnoliaceae.

The natural range of Magnolia species is rather scattered and includes eastern North America, Central America and the West Indies and east and southeast Asia. Some species are found in South America. Today many species of Magnolia and an ever increasing number of hybrids can also be found as ornamentals in large parts of North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The genus is named after French botanist Pierre Magnol, from Montpellier. See Origin of the name Magnolia.

Magnolia is an ancient genus. Having evolved before bees appeared, the flowers developed to encourage pollination by beetles. As a result, the carpels of Magnolia flowers are tough, to avoid damage by eating and crawling beetles. Fossilised specimens of M. acuminata have been found dating to 20 million years ago, and of plants identifiably belonging to the Magnoliaceae dating back to 95 million years ago. Another primitive aspect of Magnolias is their lack of distinct sepals or petals. The term tepal has been coined to refer to the intermediate element that Magnolia has instead.

Magnolia grandiflora is the official state flower of both Mississippi and Louisiana. The flower's abundance in Mississippi is reflected in its state nickname, "Magnolia State". The magnolia is also the official state tree of Mississippi.

One of the oldest nicknames for Houston, Texas, U.S.A. is "The Magnolia City" due to the abundance of magnolias growing along Buffalo Bayou.


USES
In general, Magnolia is a genus which has attracted a lot of horticultural interest. Hybridisation has been immensely successful in combining the best aspects of different species to give plants which flower at an earlier age than the species themselves, as well as having more impressive flowers.


Selected species
Magnolia grandiflora, commonly known as the Southern magnolia or bull bay, is a magnolia native to the southeastern United States, from coastal Virginia south to central Florida, and west to East Texas. It is a medium to large tree 20-30 m tall with a striking appearance, both in leaf and in bloom.
The leaves are evergreen, simple and broadly ovate, 12-20 cm long and 6-12 cm broad, with smooth margins. They are dark green, stiff and leathery, and often scurfy underneath with yellow-brown pubescence. They will bronze, blotch, and burn in severe winters at the northern limits of cultivation, but most still cling until they are replaced by new foliage in the spring. In climates where the ground freezes, winter sun appears to do more damage than the cold itself. In the northern hemisphere the south side of the tree will experience more leaf damage than the north side of the tree. Two extremes are known, with leaves white underneath and with leaves brown underneath. The brown varieties are claimed to be more cold-hardy than the white varieties, but this does not appear to be proven as yet.
The large, showy, citronella-scented flowers are white, up to 30 cm across and fragrant, with 6-12 petals with a waxy texture, emerging from the tips of twigs on mature trees in late spring.
Southern magnolia is a very popular ornamental tree throughout the southeastern United States, grown for its attractive foliage and flowers. On the east coast of the United States, cold-hardy cultivars have been seen planted up to and even north of the Ohio River, where large tree specimens become increasingly more rare and eventually are only found as shrubs before disappearing altogether from the landscape; for example, large mature trees are common in the Cincinnati, Ohio area but begin to taper off in size and occurrence until they are generally absent altogether in Columbus, Ohio. This "subtropical indicator" tree is seen in some gardens as far north as southern Connecticut; farther north it is extremely difficult to cultivate. Towards the northern limit of its cultivation, it may suffer dieback from very hard freezes, but weathers normal freezes well. On the west coast it is commonplace as far north as Vancouver, British Columbia.

Magnolia delavayi - Chinese Evergreen Magnolia or Delavay's Magnolia (Magnolia delavayi) is a species of Magnolia native to southern China, occurring in Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan at 1,500-2,800 m altitude.
It is a small evergreen tree 8-15 m in height with pale to dark yellowish-brown bark. The leaves are oblong-ovate, 10-20 cm (rarely to 32 cm) long and 5-10 cm (rarely to 20 cm) broad, tough, leathery, with a 5-7 cm petiole. The flowers are fragrant, cup-shaped, 15-25 cm broad, with nine thick, creamy white to pink tepals; they appear from July to August.
It is the city tree of Chongqing. This plant is usually grown for its foliage. It is uncommon though increasing in cultivation elsewhere; a recently selected red-flowered form is becoming popular in cultivation.

Magnolia fraseri (Fraser Magnolia) also called Mountain magnolia, Earleaf cucumbertree, or Mountain-oread, is a species of Magnolia native to the southeastern United States in the southern Appalachian Mountains and adjacent coastal plain south to northern Florida and west to eastern Texas.
It is a small, deciduous tree growing to 14 m tall, basal-branching, fragrant plant, with brown bark with a "warty" or "scaly" texture. The leaves are 15–25 cm (rarely up to 53 cm) long and 8–18 cm (rarely up to 29 cm) broad, with a pair of auricles at the base and an entire margin; they are green above and glaucous blue-green below. The flowers are white, 16–25 cm diameter with nine tepals; they open in late spring or early summer, after the foliage. The fruit is a woody, oblong, cone-like structure (like all Magnolias) 6.5–12 cm long, covered in small, pod-like follicles which contain one or two red seeds that hang out from the cone by a slender thread when ripe. A good seed crop occurs only every 4 to 5 years. Reproduction is accomplished by both seed and vegetative reproduction.
This tree grows best on rich, moist, well-drained soil. The very large showy white flowers and large coarse foliage make this an attractive ornamental tree, but otherwise it has little commercial value. It is sometimes used in North America as a native alternative to exotic magnolias; it can be grown a considerable distance north of its natural range if given conditions favorable to its growth. The fruit is eaten by wildlife.

Magnolia globosa - Globe Magnolia is a species of Magnolia native to Bhutan, southwestern China (Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan), northeastern India (Assam, Sikkim), northern Myanmar, and eastern Nepal. It is a deciduous large shrub or small tree growing to 7-10 m tall. The leaves are variable in shape, obovate, elliptic-ovate or broadly ovate, 10-24 cm long and 5-14 cm broad, glossy dark green above, paler and slightly downy below, and with a bluntly acute apex. The flowers are creamy white, 6-7.6 cm wide, with the 9-12 tepals all about the same size; they are fragrant, nodding or pendent, and have a rounded, globose profile.

Magnolia guatemalensis - Guatemalan magnolia, known locally in its native range as the Mamey (a name also used for the unrelated species Pouteria sapota from Cuba and the fruit tree Mammea americana from Central and South America), is found in the highlands and mountains of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras as an indicator species of the cloud forest.

Magnolia macrophylla - The Bigleaf Magnolia is a deciduous magnolia native to the southeastern United States and eastern Mexico.

Magnolia obovata - Japanese Bigleaf Magnolia is a species of Magnolia, native to Japan and the adjacent Kurile Islands of Russia. It grows at altitudes of sea level up to 1,800 m in mixed broadleaf forest. Uses: The wood is strong, light, and easy to work, sought by craftsmen. In parts of Japan the large leaves are used for wrapping food.

Magnolia officinalis - Houpu Magnolia is a species of Magnolia native to the mountains and valleys of China at altitudes of 300-1500 m. It is a deciduous tree growing to 20m in height. The bark is thick and brown but does not fissure. The leaves are broad, ovate, 20-40 cm long and 11-20 cm broad. The flowers are fragrant, 10-15 cm wide, with 9-12 (rarely to 17) white tepals, and appear from May to June. The bark is used in traditional Chinese medicine, where it is known as houpu. The highly aromatic bark contains magnolol and honokiol, two polyphenolic compounds that have demonstrated anti-anxiety and anti-angiogenic properties. Magnolia bark also has been shown to reduce allergic and asthmatic reactions. The bark is stripped from the stems, branches, and roots. Cultivated supplies today produce most of the bark for commercial and domestic use.

Magnolia sieboldii - Siebold's Magnolia, also known as Oyama Magnolia, is a species of Magnolia native to eastern Asia in China, Japan, and Korea. It is named after the German doctor Philipp Franz von Siebold. It is a large shrub or small tree 5–10 m tall. The stalks, young leaves, young twigs and young buds are downy. The leaves are elliptical to ovate-oblong, 9-16 cm (rarely 25 cm) long and 4-10 cm (rarely 12 cm) broad, with a 1.5-4.5 cm petiole. The flowers, unlike the better-known spring flowering Magnolias, open primarily in the early summer, but continue intermittently until late summer. They are pendulous, cup-shaped, 7-10 cm diameter, and have 6-12 tepals, the outer three smaller, the rest larger, and pure white; the carpels are greenish and the stamens reddish-purple or greenish-white.

Magnolia tripetala - The Umbrella magnolia is a deciduous tree native to the southeastern United States in the Appalachian Mountains region. Umbrella magnolias have large shiny leaves 30-50 cm long, spreading from stout stems. In a natural setting the Umbrella magnolia can grow 15 m tall. The flowers are large, 15-25 cm diameter, with six to nine creamy-white petals and a large red style, which later develops into a red fruit 10 cm long, containing several red seeds. These trees are attractive and easy to grow. The leaves will turn yellow in the autumn. It is also sometimes known as 'Umbrella tree'.

Magnolia virginiana - The Sweetbay magnolia, also called just Sweetbay, is a member of the magnolia family, Magnoliaceae. It was the first magnolia to be scientifically described, and is the type species of the genus Magnolia; as Magnolia is also the type genus of all flowering plants, this species can be seen to typify all flowering plants.


Magnolia wilsonii - Wilson's Magnolia is a species of Magnolia native to China, in the provinces of western Guizhou, Sichuan and northern Yunnan, where it grows in the forest.

Magnolia acuminata, also known as the Cucumber tree (often spelled as a single word "Cucumbertree") or Cucumber Magnolia, is one of the largest magnolias, and one of the cold-hardiest. It is a large forest tree of the northeastern United States and southeasternmost Canada–(Ontario). It is a tree that tends to occur singly as scattered specimens, rather than in groves. The Cucumber tree is native primarily within the Appalachian belt, including the Allegheny Plateau and Cumberland Plateau, up to western Pennsylvania and New York. There are also numerous disconnected outlying populations through much of the southeastern U.S., and a few small populations in southernmost Ontario. Unlike most magnolias, the flowers are not showy.

Magnolia dawsoniana - Dawson's magnolia is a magnolia species native to the provinences of Sichuan and Yunnan in China, usually at altitudes of 1400 to 2500 m.

Magnolia denudata, known as the Yulan magnolia, is native to central and eastern China. It has been cultivated in Chinese Buddhist temple gardens since 600 AD. Its flowers were regarded as a symbol of purity in the Tang Dynasty and it was planted in the grounds of the Emperor's palace. It is the official city flower of Shanghai. Is a rather low, rounded, thickly branched, and coarse-textured tree to 25 m tall. The leaves are ovate, bright green, 15 cm long and 8 cm wide. Bark is a coarse dark gray. The 10–16 cm white flowers that emerge from early to late spring, while beautiful and thick with a citrus-lemon fragrance, are prone to browning if subjected to frost.

Magnolia stellata - Star Magnolia, is a very slow growing perennial shrub or small tree native to Japan with large showy white or pink flowers in early spring before the appearance of the leaves.

Magnolia salicifolia, also known as Willow-leafed magnolia or Anise Magnolia, originates from Japan. It is a small deciduous tree 7.5 m(25 ft) tall, with narrow lanceolate leaves with whitened undersides. The leaves are not as narrow as true willows (Salix), but is narrow compared to other magnolias, giving this tree a finer texture. The 10cm-wide scented flowers emerge in early spring before the leaves. The leaves and bark are fragrant when crushed. This plant is not often found in cultivation.

Magnolia liliiflora, commonly known as the Mulan magnolia, Tulip magnolia or Lily magnolia, is a small tree native to southwest China (Sichuan, Yunnan), but cultivated for centuries elsewhere in China and also Japan.

Magnolia kobus, known as the Kobushi Magnolia, is a species of Magnolia native to Japan. It is a deciduous, small tree which has a slow rate of growth but can reach twenty-five feet in height and thirty-five feet in width.

Magnolia (Magnolia x wieseneri)

Magnolia 'Jane'

Bacopa

The Bacopa is a genus of 70 - 100 aquatic plants belonging to the family Plantaginaceae. Commonly known as Water Hyssop. They are annual or perennial, decumbent or erect stemmed plants. The leaves are opposite or whorled, sessile. Leaf blade... more >>>

Galtonia

Galtonia is genus of plants,in the family Hyacinthaceae; native to South Africa they are named after Sir Francis Galton. Galtonia candicans, also known as Cape Hyacinth, is much propagated as a garden plant. Another species is the pale green... more >>>

Laelia

Laelia, abbreviated L in horticultural trade, is a small genus of eleven species from the orchid family (Orchidaceae). This is one of the most important and popular orchid genera, because of the beautiful flowers, their genetic properties and... more >>>

Onoclea sensibilis - Sensitive fern

The Sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis), also known as the Bead fern, is a coarse-textured, medium to large-sized perennial fern. The name comes from the observation by early American settlers that it was very sensitive to frost, the fronds... more >>>

Calendula

Calendula is a genus of about 12-20 species of annual or perennial herbaceous plants in the daisy family Asteraceae, native to the area from Macaronesia east through the Mediterranean region to Iran. Calendula should not be confused with other... more >>>