An ancient family of flowering trees with large, fragrant, primitive blooms that predate bees, treasured as ornamentals across the temperate world.
Where it grows
The southern magnolia is native to the warm wet coastal plain from North Carolina to central Florida and west to Texas. The wider Magnolia genus contains over 200 species split between East Asia and the Americas — a pattern that points to a single ancient distribution broken up by continental drift.
How to recognise it
A handsome evergreen tree with leathery dark green oval leaves, often coppery-felted on the underside. The famous flowers are cup-shaped, creamy white, with broad fleshy petals up to 30 centimetres across, releasing a heavy lemony fragrance. The cone-like fruit ripens to release bright orange-red seeds dangling on slender threads.
Uses
The southern magnolia is the most widely planted ornamental tree in the warm temperate world after the eucalyptus and the cherry, prized for its showy flowers, year-round foliage, and impressive scale. The wood is creamy yellow, soft, and used for inexpensive furniture and venetian blinds.
Evolutionary note
Magnolia flowers evolved before bees did, and their thick rubbery petals and beetle-pollinated structure are an evolutionary echo of the Cretaceous, when beetles were the main pollinators.
Find more trees by letter
Magnolia starts with M and ends with A. Browse other trees along the same letter.
Trees that contain a letter from "Magnolia":