Magnolia acuminata - (image 1 of 8)
Taxonomy
Family: Magnoliaceae
Habitat
North to east slopes of mountains and hills on rich soils ranging from moist to wet. Moderately shade tolerant.
Associates
Distribution
NY to GA, west to IL and AR. Absent from the Chicago region.
Morphology
Deciduous tree to 80' high. Crown broadly pyramidal with upper branches ascending when young, developing a rounded outline in old age. Leaves alternate, simple, margin entire (often wavy), 4-10" long, elliptic to oblong-ovate, acuminate, rounded to slightly tapered at the base, soft pubescent on the undersurface, principle veins prominent, branched, widely spaced, about 10 per side; petiole flattened and split toward the base, to 1.5" long; stipules soon deciduous. Terminal bud large, silvery pubescent, with 1 hairy bud scale, just under 1" long. Twigs stout, reddish-brown to grayish, aromatic. Young bark smooth, pale gray; older bark gray-brown, furrowed into long, narrow, flattish scaly ridges. Flowers solitary, large, bell-shaped with; petals 6, greenish yellow, 2.5-3" cm long; sepals 1-1.5" long. Fruit a cone-like aggregate of follicles, spirally arranged on a stout stalk, to 3" long; the follicles split along one side at maturity, releasing 1 or 2 large shiny, orange to red seeds. The unripe fruit superficially resembles a cucumber.
Notes
Flowers early April through early July
Wetland indicator: NA
Not the most showy of magnolias but a good tree in leaf and the fruits are somewhat ornamental. The fall foliage shown here is exceptional for this species and should not be considered typical. Some excellent cultivars exist, particularly the hybrids with pale yellow flowers like 'Butterflies'.
The fruits are dispersed by birds and other animals.
Magnolia 'Butterflies' is a select hybrid between M. acuminata and M. denudata that grows to about 6 m in height. It produces lightly lemon-scented yellow flowers in April before the leaves emerge. M. denudata (Yulan magnolia) is native to China and is typically white flowered with a stronger scent.
Magnolia 'Butterflies'
References
Dirr, Michael A. 1998. Manual of Woody Landscape Plants:
Their Identification, Ornamental Characteristics, Culture, Propagation and Uses.
5th ed. Champaign, Illinois: Stipes Publishing L.L.C.
Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of
Northeastern United States
and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY
Swink, F. and G. Wilhelm. 1994. Plants of the Chicago Region.
Indiana Academy of Science. The Morton Arboretum. Lisle, Illinois.
USDA, NRCS. 2002.
The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov).
National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.
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Michael Hough © 2005 |