Magnolia – Pierre Magnol, French botanist (1638–1715), professor and director of the botanical garden at Montpellier, France

• in 1676, he published a flora of the region that contained 1,354 species
• first to use the concept of plant families, based on morphological characteristics
• in 1703, Charles Plumier (1646–1704) applied the name Magnolia, to a flowering tree from Martinique

Native range: Asia, Eastern North America, Central America

Leaves:

• alternate
• simple
• pinnately veined
• leaf shape ovate to obovate
• can be large (up to 25”)
• large deciduous scales protect buds, leaving a ring around stem

Flowers:

• solitary & terminal
• perfect
• large and showy
• radially symmetric
• 6-9 tepals (or up to 33”), whorls of 3
• stamens many, often with red filaments
• stamens spirally arranged around the many pistils
• white, pink, purple, green, rarely yellow; often scented

Fruit:

• aggregate of follicles
• seeds embedded in an elongate receptacle
• hard, brown seeds are enclosed in a fleshy colored (red, orange, or pink) seed cover
• seeds suspended by threads

Other notes:

• trees up to 60 feet, or shrubs
• evergreen or deciduous
• one of the most primitive genera of flowering plants
• large buds with fuzzy scales often noticeable in winter
• flowers appear before leaves in many species

Species:

• Magnolia grandiflora (evergreen/southern magnolia)
• Magnolia stellata (star flower magnolia)