I walk by a house that has a giant magnolia tree in the front yard. Magnolia trees are fairly common here. I think the flowers are quite beautiful. I have seen them in a lot of artificial flower displays. When a magnolia tree is full of blooms, it is quite stunning. One of my favorite movies is “Steel Magnolias.” I have been to Magnolia Market in Waco, Texas developed by Chip & Joanna Gaines of “Fixer-Upper” HGTV fame. Magnolia is the brand of their home décor line. Let’s find out more about magnolias.
According to Wikipedia, magnolia is a large genus of about 210 flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae of the family Magnoliaceae. It is named after French botanist Pierre Magnol.
Magnolia is an ancient genus. Appearing before bees evolved, the flowers are theorized to have evolved to encourage pollination by beetles. To avoid damage from pollinating beetles, the carpels of magnolia flowers are extremely tough. Fossilized specimens of M. acuminata have been found dating to 20 million years ago, and of plants identifiably belonging to the Magnoliaceae date to 95 million years ago. Another aspect of magnolia considered to represent an ancestral state is that the flower bud is enclosed in a bract rather than in sepals; the perianth parts are undifferentiated and called tepals rather than distinct sepals and petals. Magnolia shares the tepal characteristic with several other flowering plants near the base of the flowering plant lineage such as Amborella and Nymphaea, as well as with many more recently derived plants such as Lilium.
The natural range of magnolia species is a disjunct distribution, with a main center in east and southeast Asia and a secondary center in eastern North America, Central America, the West Indies and some species in South America.
Description
Magnolias are spreading, evergreen or deciduous trees or shrubs, characterized by large fragrant flowers which may be bowl-shaped or star-shaped, in shades of white, pink, purple, green or yellow. In deciduous species the blooms often appear before the leaves in spring. Cone- like fruits are often produced in autumn.
As with all Magnoliaceae, the perianth is undifferentiated, with 9–15 tepals in 3 or more whorls. The flowers are bisexual with numerous adnate carpels and stamens arranged in a spiral fashion on the elongated receptacle. The fruit dehisces along the dorsal sutures of the carpels. The pollen is monocolpate, and the embryo development is of the Polygonum type.
Etymology
French botanist Charles Plumier (1646–1704) — after whom the Frangipani genus Plumeria is named — described a flowering tree from the island of Martinique in his “Genera,” giving it the name Magnolia, after the French botanist Pierre Magnol (1638-1715) who became director of the Royal Botanic Garden of Montpellier and held a seat in the Académie Royale des Sciences de Paris for a short while. He was one of the innovators who devised the botanical scheme of classification. He was the first to publish the concept of plant families as they are understood today, a natural classification of groups of plants that have features in common.
Horticultural uses
In general, the genus Magnolia has attracted horticultural interest. Some, such as the shrub M. stellata (star magnolia) and the tree M. × soulangeana (saucer magnolia) flower quite early in the spring before the leaves open. Others flower in late spring or early summer, including M. virginiana (sweetbay magnolia) and M. grandiflora (southern magnolia).
Hybridization has been immensely successful in combining the best aspects of different species to give plants which flower at an earlier age than the parent species, as well as having more impressive flowers. One of the most popular garden magnolias, M. × soulangeana, is a hybrid of M. liliiflora and M. denudata.
In the eastern United States, five native species are frequently in cultivation: M. acuminata as a shade tree, M. grandiflora, M. virginiana, M. tripetala, and M. macrophylla. The last two species must be planted where high winds are not a frequent problem because of the large size of their leaves.
Culinary uses
The flowers of many species are considered edible. In parts of England, the petals of M. grandiflora are pickled and used as a spicy condiment. In some Asian cuisines, the buds are pickled and used to flavor rice and scent tea. In Japan, the young leaves and flower buds of Magnolia hypoleuca are broiled and eaten as a vegetable. Older leaves are made into a powder and used as seasoning; dried, whole leaves are placed on a charcoal brazier and filled with miso, leeks, daikon and shiitake, then broiled. There is a type of miso which is seasoned with magnolia, hoba miso. In parts of Japan, the leaves of M. obovata are used for wrapping food and cooking dishes.
Traditional medicine
The bark and flower buds of M. officinalis have long been used in traditional Chinese medicine, where they are known as hou po (厚朴). In Japan, kōboku, M. obovata, has been used in a similar manner.
Timber
The cucumbertree, M. acuminata, grows to large size and is harvested as a timber tree in northeastern US forests. Its wood is sold as "yellow poplar" along with that of the tuliptree, Liriodendron tulipifera. The Fraser magnolia, M. fraseri, also attains enough size sometimes to be harvested, as well.
Symbols
Yulan magnolia, lilytree or Magnolia denudata
White or Yulan magnolia — subgenus Yulania — is the official flower of the Chinese metropolis Shanghai.
Southern magnolia, bull bay or Magnolia grandiflora
Magnolia grandiflora is the official state flower of both Mississippi and Louisiana. The flower's abundance in Mississippi is reflected in its nickname of "Magnolia State" and the state flag. The magnolia is also the official state tree of Mississippi. One of the many nicknames for the city of Houston is "Magnolia City." Historically, magnolias have been associated with the Southern United States.
In the 1960s, magnolias were a symbol of the South in the popular press. The New York Post noted of Lyndon Johnson that "A man who wore a ten-gallon Stetson and spoke with a magnolia accent had little hope of winning the Democratic nomination in 1960," and biographer Robert Caro picks up the symbol by saying that when Johnson became president "[t]he taint of magnolias still remained to be scrubbed off."
Siebold's magnolia, Korean mountain magnolia, Oyama magnolia or Magnolia sieboldii
Magnolia sieboldii is the national flower of North Korea and the official flower of Gangnam.
Select species
Fraser magnolia, mountain magnolia, earleaf cucumbertree, mountain-oread or Magnolia fraseri
Magnolia fraseri — commonly known as Fraser magnolia, 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 Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain from West Virginia south to northern Florida and west to eastern Texas. The Appalachian plants are classified as Magnolia fraseri var. fraseri and the more coastal plants as M. fraseri var. pyramidata. These two kinds of magnolia are often recognized as distinct species, M. fraseri and M. pyramidata, respectively.
Fraser magnolia is a small, deciduous tree growing to 40 feet tall, as a basal-branching, fragrant plant with brown bark with a "warty" or "scaly" texture. The leaves are quite large, 15–25 cm long and 8–18 cm broad, with a pair of auricles or "earlobes" at the base and an entire margin; they are green above and glaucous blue-green below. The showy white flowers are 16–25 cm in diameter with nine tepals; they open in late spring or early summer after the foliage. The fruit is a woody, oblong, cone-like structure 6.5–12 cm long, covered in small, pod-like follicles each containing one or two red seeds that hang out from the cone by a slender thread when ripe. A good seed crop occurs only about every 4–5 years. Reproduction is accomplished by both seed and vegetative sprouts. The fruit is eaten by wildlife, helping disperse the seeds.
Fraser magnolia is named for the Scottish botanist John Fraser (1750–1811), who collected extensively in the Appalachian Mountains.
This tree grows best on rich, moist, well-drained soil. The very large showy white flowers and large-leaved, coarse-textured foliage make this an attractive ornamental tree, but otherwise it has little commercial value. It is sometimes cultivated in North America as a native alternative to exotic magnolias and can be grown a considerable distance north of its natural range if given conditions favorable to its growth.
There are two varieties:
· Magnolia fraseri var. fraseri, native to the
Appalachian Mountains.
· Magnolia fraseri var. pyramidata
(Bartram) Pampanini, from the Coastal
Plain. The vernacular name for this variety is Pyramid magnolia.
The bigleaf magnolia — Magnolia macrophylla — also has auriculate-lobed leaves.
Bigleaf magnolia, Magnolia macrophylla
Magnolia macrophylla, the bigleaf magnolia, is a deciduous magnolia native to the southeastern United States and eastern Mexico. This species boasts the largest simple leaf and single flower of any native plant in North America.
Magnolia macrophylla has three subspecies; some botanists treat these plants as three separate species:
· Magnolia macrophylla subsp. macrophylla. Bigleaf magnolia. Southeastern United States.
Secure. Tree to 20 m; leaves 50–90 cm long, fruit 4–10 cm long with more than 50 carpels.
· Magnolia macrophylla subsp. ashei (Wetherby) Spongberg. Ashe magnolia. Northwest
Florida. Shrub or small tree to 12 m; leaves 25–60 cm long, fruit 4–5 cm long with less than
50 carpels. Considered by some botanists to be a distinct species, Magnolia ashei.
· Magnolia macrophylla subsp. dealbata (Zuccarini) J. D. Tobe. Mexican bigleaf magnolia
or Cloudforest magnolia. Mexico — Hidalgo to Oaxaca and Veracruz, in cloud forests.
Tree to 20 m; leaves 30–60 cm long, fruit 8–15 cm long with more than 70 carpels.
Considered by some botanists to be a distinct species, Magnolia dealbata.
Bigleaf magnolia is medium-sized understory tree 15–20 m tall, though some individuals over 27 m tall and over 100 cm circumference have been documented by the Eastern Native Tree Society. This species is distinguished from other magnolias by the large leaf size, 25–80 cm long and 11–30 cm broad. The tree's branches often bend under the weight of this heavy foliage.
At the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, dead bees have been observed inside bigleaf magnolia flowers.
Bigleaf magnolia is found in rich mesic woods; any disturbance that lets more light reach the ground is beneficial to the establishment of bigleaf magnolia, but despite its relatively fast growth rate when stimulated by more light, other understory and canopy trees/seedlings are usually able to outgrow and out-compete it. This suits the plant just fine as it is tolerant of low light levels; it does not need full sun to survive once established. However, it does not tolerate full shade. Natural regeneration is quite limited due to the scarcity of mature, seed-bearing plants and the fact that this tree's population mostly consists of widely scattered individuals. In addition, this species is plagued by poor seed set — most likely from limiting factors mentioned above — and low seed viability, a trait shared by its cousin and frequent associate in the wild in Appalachia, the Fraser magnolia.
The Ashe magnolia is a rare shrub, exceptionally a small tree, that is found only along the bluffs and ravines adjacent to the Apalachicola River in Florida, along with several other rare plants unique to the area, such as Florida Yew and Florida torreya. It resembles the typical subsp. macrophylla, but has shorter, broader leaves, smaller flowers, and longer fruits. The 6-to-8-inch-diameter flowers bloom in late spring and are white with rose-purple blotches on the inner tepals. The fruit is eaten by wildlife, but because of the plant's scarceness, it does not form a significant portion of any creature's diet.
In the southeastern United States, especially Alabama and surrounding areas, Magnolia macrophylla is sometimes called the "cowcumber magnolia," in contrast with the much smaller-leaved cucumber-tree magnolia, M. acuminata.
Collection, both legal and illegal, may have an adverse impact on this tree's population due to low population density, and high collection pressure can extirpate this species locally. Bigleaf magnolia is listed as threatened in North Carolina and endangered in Arkansas and Ohio. The Florida Department of Agriculture lists the Ashe magnolia as endangered, due to its small population and restricted range. The Mexican bigleaf magnolia is also endangered, by loss of habitat.
Umbrella magnolia, umbrella-tree or Magnolia tripetala
Magnolia tripetala — commonly called umbrella magnolia or simply umbrella-tree — is a deciduous tree native to the eastern United States in the Appalachian Mountains, the Ozarks and the Ouachita Mountains. The name "umbrella tree" derives from the fact that the large leaves are clustered at the tips of the branches forming an umbrella-shaped structure.
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, appear in the spring, malodorous, 15–25 cm diameter, with six to nine creamy-white tepals 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 turn yellow in the autumn. The leaves are clustered at the tip of the stem with very short internodes. The tree has reddish cone-shaped fruit, is shade tolerant, has shallow spreading roots and is pollinated by beetles.
The largest known Magnolia tripetala is 15.2 m in height with a trunk diameter of 87 cm in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
Sweetbay magnolia, Magnolia virginiana
Magnolia virginiana, most commonly known as sweetbay magnolia, or merely sweetbay — also laurel magnolia, swampbay, swamp magnolia, whitebay or beaver tree — is a member of the magnolia family, Magnoliaceae. It was the first magnolia to be scientifically described under modern rules of botanical nomenclature, and is the type species of the genus Magnolia; as Magnolia is also the type genus of all flowering plants, this species in a sense typifies all flowering plants.
Magnolia virginiana is an evergreen or deciduous tree to 100 feet tall, native to the lowlands and swamps of the Atlantic coastal plain of the eastern United States, from Florida to Long Island, New York. Whether it is deciduous or evergreen depends on climate; it is evergreen in areas with milder winters in the south of its range and is semi-evergreen or deciduous further north. The leaves are alternate, simple — not lobed or pinnate, with entire margins, 6–12 cm long, and 3–5 cm wide. The bark is smooth and gray, with the inner bark mildly scented, the scent reminiscent of the bay laurel spice.
The flowers are creamy white, 8–14 cm diameter, with 6-15 petal-like tepals. The flowers carry a very strong vanilla scent that can sometimes be noticed several hundred yards away. The fruit is a fused aggregate of follicles, 3–5 cm long, pinkish-red when mature, with the follicles splitting open to release the 1 cm long seeds. The seeds are black but covered by a thinly fleshy red coat, which is attractive to some fruit-eating birds; these swallow the seeds, digest the red coating and disperse the seeds in their droppings.
Magnolia virginiana is often grown as an ornamental tree in gardens and used in horticultural applications to give an architectural feel to landscape designs. It is an attractive tree for parks and large gardens, grown for its large, conspicuous, scented flowers; clean, attractive foliage; and fast growth. In warmer areas Magnolia virginiana is valued for its evergreen foliage.
The English botanist and missionary John Banister collected Magnolia virginiana in the southeastern United States in 1678 and sent it to England, where it flowered for Bishop Henry Compton. This species was the first magnolia to be cultivated in England, although it was soon overshadowed by the evergreen, larger-flowered southern magnolia, M. grandiflora.
Visual arts
The Canadian artist, Sarah Maloney, has created a series of sculptures of magnolia flowers in bronze and steel, entitled “First Flowers,” in which she draws our attention to the dual symbols of beginnings in the flower, as both an evolutionary archetype and also one of the first trees to flower in spring.
Music
In the 1939 song "Strange Fruit," originally written as a poem by New York schoolteacher and communist activist Abel Meeropol to condemn the practice of lynching, the magnolia flower was referenced as being associated with the Southern United States, where many lynchings took place:
Pastoral scene of the gallant south
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.
Despite Meeropol's frequent mention of the South and magnolia trees, the horrific image which inspired his poem — Lawrence Beitler's 1930 photograph capturing the lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith following the robbery and murder of Claude Deteer — actually occurred in Marion, Indiana, where magnolia trees are less common.
The song has been called "a declaration" and "the beginning of the civil rights movement."
Meeropol set his lyrics to music with his wife and the singer Laura Duncan and performed it as a protest song in New York City venues in the late 1930s, including Madison Square Garden. Holiday's version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1978. It was also included in the "Songs of the Century" list of the Recording Industry of America and the National Endowment for the Arts. The song has been covered by many artists, including Nina Simone, Jeff Buckley, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Robert Wyatt, and Dee Dee Bridgewater. Diana Ross recorded the song for her debut film, the Billie Holiday biopic Lady Sings the Blues (1972), and it was included on the chart topping soundtrack album. Andra Day also recorded the song for her award-winning acting debut in the 2021 Billie Holiday biopic The United States vs. Billie Holiday, and it was included in the film's topping soundtrack album.
In 2002, "Strange Fruit" was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant."
Film
Steel Magnolias is a 1989 American comedy-drama film directed by Herbert Ross and starring Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis and Julia Roberts. The picture is a film adaptation of Robert Harling's 1987 play of the same name about the bond a group of women share in a small-town southern community, and how they cope with the death of one of their own. The supporting cast features Tom Skerritt, Dylan McDermott, Sam Shepard and Kevin J. O'Connor.
The story is based on Robert Harling's real life experience of the death of his sister, Susan Harling Robinson, in 1985 of complications from Type 1 diabetes, changing his sister's name in the story to Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie. She was portrayed in the film version by Julia Roberts.
The title suggests the main female characters can be both as delicate as the magnolia flower and as tough as steel.
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