Habitat

• native to the southeastern and south central United States
• zone 5
• especially common on the slopes of the Appalachian Mountains

Habit and Form

• a deciduous small to medium-sized tree
• grows to 15' to 30' tall
• very coarse texture and branching
• upright spreading to irregular branching
• loose and open

Summer Foliage

• leaves are 1' to 2' long
• leaves are widest three quarters of the way out the leaf
• leaves are bright, lime green above and somewhat frosty-looking underneath
• foliage is clustered at the branch tips

Autumn Foliage

• not impressive
• foliage may turn yellow and brown before dropping

Flowers

• not especially showy for a magnolia
• typically the flowers have 6 to 9 tepals
• each flower is 6" to 10" across when open
• color is creamy white
• fragrance is disagreeable
• bloom time is May and early June

Fruit

• aggregate fruits have a knobby appearance
• mature color is red and green
• fruit mature and open in September to October

Bark

• highly ornamental
• bark is smooth with ash-gray color

Culture

• prefers moist, rich, organic soils
• full sun or light, partial shade

Landscape Use

• as a specimen

Liabilities

• extremely coarse appearance is hard to use in most landscape situations
• large leaves can be injured by wind and hail

ID Features

• very large leaves for a magnolia or any native tree
• ash-gray, smooth bark
• coarse texture
• large, unpleasantly-scented, creamy white flowers

Propagation

• by seed

Cultivars/Varieties

• none