Magnolia grandiflora

Botanical Name: Magnolia grandiflora
Common Name: southern magnolia
Family Name: Magnoliaceae
Distribution/Origin: S.E. United States

Description:
Magnolia grandiflora, is a tree reaching 27.5 m in height, it is a large, striking evergreen tree with large, dark green leaves up to 20 cm long and 12 cm wide, and large, white, fragrant flowers up to 30 cm in diameter. Although endemic to the lowland subtropical forests on the Gulf and south Atlantic coastal plain, magnolia grandiflora is widely cultivated in warmer areas around the world. The timber is hard and heavy, and has been used commercially to make furniture, pallets, and veneer. It typically has a single stem (or trunk) and a pyramidal shape. The leaves are simple and broadly ovate, 12 - 20 cm long and 6 - 12 cm broad, with smooth margins. They are dark green, stiff and leathery, and often scurfy underneath with yellow-brown pubescence. The large, showy, lemon citronella-scented flowers are white, up to 30 cm across and fragrant, with six to 12 petals with a waxy texture, emerging from the tips of twigs on mature trees in late spring. Flowering is followed by the rose-coloured fruit, ovoid, 7.5 - 10 cm long, and 3 - 5 cm wide.

Notes:
'Little Gem', a dwarf cultivar, is grown in more moderate climates,  it is a slower-growing form with a columnar shape which reaches around 4.25 m high and 1.2 m wide. Flowering heavily over an extended period in warmer climate, it bears medium-sized, cup-shaped flowers, and has elliptic leaves 12.5 cm long by 5 cm wide.