Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Magnoliids: Magnoliales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Magnolia grandiflora
FAMILY
Magnoliaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
You may enjoy reading South Carolina's Native Magnolias by Richard B. Figlar.
You may also want to check Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of North Carolina
Learn more about Magnolia from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Magnolia grandiflora
FAMILY
Magnoliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 3 (1997)
Magnolia grandiflora
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 080-02-002:
Magnolia grandiflora FAMILY Magnoliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Magnolia grandiflora
COMMON NAME:
Southern Magnolia, Bull Bay
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
Trees You Want to Know (Peattie, 1934); illustration by F.A. Michaux dcp34_p34
)
Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905) mtna_i_378
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / US Forest Service pnd_magr4_005_lhd
)
Keith Bradley kab_m_grandiflora_3603
January Hampton County SC
Lake Warren State Park
)
JK Marlow jkm0402d_18
February Greenville County SC
Furman University
Buds have brown hairs, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).
)
Ben Geer Keys bgk897_a
May-June? Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm0306b_09
June Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm0306b_10
June Greenville County SC
Flowers 7-8" across on stout hairy stalks, very fragrant, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
Keith Bradley kab_m_grandiflora_70
June Polk County NC
)
Keith Bradley kab_m_grandiflora_77877
June Polk County NC
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_m_grandiflora_2
June
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_m_grandiflora_3
June
)
Stephanie C. Brundage scb_061221charleston02
June Charleston County SC
Isle of Palms
)
Stephanie C. Brundage scb_070521atlanta22
July DeKalb County GA
Kittredge Park
)
Stephanie C. Brundage scb_070521atlanta23
July DeKalb County GA
Kittredge Park
)
Gill Newberry gn09_m_grandiflora_flower
September
)
Gill Newberry gn09_m_grandiflora_young_
September
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_magnolia_grandiflora
September
)
Paul Thompson pstmagnolia_grandiflora
September?
Note brown pubescence on young twigs, buds, petioles, and leaf undersides. — Clemson Extension
COMPARE
leaves of Magnolia species
)
Gill Newberry gn10_m_grandiflora_fruit
October
Seeds bright red, each suspended from follicle by a slender elastic thread, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
COMPARE
fruits that are an aggregate of follicles
)
Gill Newberry gn10_m_grandiflora_young2
October
)
JK Marlow jkm131003_833
October Greenville County SC
Fruit a pubescent, cone-like aggregate of follicles, rosy red at maturity, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
JK Marlow jkm131003_841
October Greenville County SC
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_m_grand_cnc_1
November
)
JK Marlow jkm0212c_23
December Greenville County SC
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Magnolia grandiflora
FAMILY
Magnoliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Magnolia grandiflora
FAMILY
Magnoliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 3
Magnolia grandiflora
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 080-02-002:
Magnolia grandiflora
FAMILY
Magnoliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Magnolia grandiflora
897
Tree
Perennial
Habitat: maritime forests, mesic Coastal Plain bluffs and flats, bottomlands, now also widely naturalized, spreading from cultivation into wet to mesic (and even dry) forests, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Coastal Plain of the Carolinas & Georgia, and the GA Piedmont
Common in Coastal Plain of GA & SC, uncommon in Carolina Piedmont, rare elsewhere
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Evergreen
Simple
Alternate
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Creamy-white
Radially symmetrical
3 sepals
6-12 petals
Numerous stamens
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Seeds red
Aggregate of follicles
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p036
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p298
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p352
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p500
- Identifying Trees: An All-Season Guide to Eastern North America (Williams, 2007) p252
- Landscaping with Native Trees (Sternberg & Wilson, 1995) p150
- Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007) p237
- Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988) p106
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p089
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p084
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance) p32
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p206
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p167
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