This North American native is found in the southeast and along the east coast of the United
States. Trees found north of Long Island NY, or in areas of the country other than those shown
on the range map, were probably planted, not wild.
Identification: In the northern end of its range, this magnolia
is often a multi-stemmed shrub 10-60′ (3-18 m) tall, which loses its leaves in the winter ("deciduous").
In the south, it tends to be a single-trunked tree up to 40-100′ (12-30 m) tall, and it is an evergreen.
Leaves are alternate, in the shape of
pointed ovals, with smooth edges, 2-4½″ (6-12 cm) long × 1-1¾″ (3-5 cm). Leaves are green on top,
whitish-gray below. Bark is smooth and gray.
Cup-shaped cream-colored flowers have a pleasant vanilla-lemon scent, and are 2-4″ (5-10 cm) in diameter.
Their petals are actually tepals. Fruiting "cones" are up to 2″ (5 cm) long, filled with
bright red seeds ⅛-¼″ (6-9 mm) long. The closely-packed seeds are irregularly shaped, a bit like
kernels of corn.
This is yellower than I would expect, but I attribute that to flower age. · 4/12/2015 · Shark Valley, Everglades National Park, Florida · ≈ 8 × 6″ (20 × 14 cm) ID is uncertain
7/3/2012 · By Jacquelyn Boyt
9/13/2009 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Massachusetts · ≈ 5 × 3½″ (13 × 9.2 cm)