Magnolia Tree Varieties

The botanical classification of magnolia trees can be given as follows.

• Kingdom - Plantae
• Order - Magnoliales
• Family - Magnoliaceae
• Genus - Magnolia

Magnolia trees are some of the ancient flowering trees on the Earth and are popularly used for landscaping. There are more than 80 natural species of Magnolia and they are native to southeastern Asia and eastern United States. Many hybrid varieties of Magnolia have been cultivated by breeders all around the world. The attractive features of a magnolia tree includes, exotic, fragrant and dazzling flowers with shiny green colored leaves. These trees stay evergreen even when their foliage shed. Magnolia tree care is very simple and hence these are some of the highly cultivated ornamental plants. Moreover, many of the magnolia tree varieties remain evergreen all year round. The best time for planting magnolia tree seeds is: spring for evergreen Magnolias and autumn for deciduous type of Magnolias. Given below is a summary on some of the popular varieties of magnolia trees.

Types of Magnolia Tree

Southern Magnolia: The botanical name of this tree is Magnolia grandiflora and another common name is Bull Bay. This magnolia tree is native to southeastern parts of the United States that runs from the coastal areas of Virginia south to central Florida and west to eastern Texas and Arkansas. The foliage of this tree is evergreen and broad sized with white fragrant flowers. The timber of this tree being hard in nature is used for commercial purposes on a large basis. This magnolia variety is easy to maintain, but the large foliage can cause trouble in a high traffic area.

Cucumber Tree: Magnolia acuminata, is the botanical name of this magnolia variety, which is also known as cucumber magnolia or blue magnolia. The tree is named cucumber tree because of the cucumber like resemblance of the immature fruits. The matured fruits of this tree are however, red in color. This tree is native to Canada and is one of the largest magnolia tree. It was listed under some of the endangered species in the year 2007.

Anise Magnolia: This magnolia tree is native to Japan and is named botanically as Magnolia salicifolia. Another name of this tree is Willow-leafed magnolia. This magnolia tree has narrow leaves as compared to other varieties. The tree bears fragrant white flowers that bloom in early spring and they may wither due to frost. Fruits of this tree are pink in color with scarlet seeds inside them.

Star Magnolia: Magnolia stellata is the botanical name of this tree. Even this tree is native to Japan and is characterized by star shaped flowers, hence the name. Star magnolia is a slow growing shrub and the star shaped flowers are white or pink in color. The tree produces reddish-green colored fruits that mature and open in early autumn. The color of the foliage of this tree is bronze-green, which turns to deep green as it matures.

Saucer Magnolia: Saucer magnolia is basically a hybrid of two varieties of magnolia tree: Magnolia denudata and Magnolia liliiflora. The tree was bred by a French botanist named Étienne Soulange-Bodin. The main feature of this tree is fragrant white-pink flowers that bloom in the spring. These flowers are quite large in size with the typical shape of a saucer, hence the name. This tree has a tendency to produce several stems. The tree is not suitable for an urban environment and tends to lose its blossom too early.

Other Varieties of Magnolia Tree

• Magnolia liliflora
• Magnolia panamensis
• Magnolia poasana
• Magnolia schiedeana
• Magnolia delavayi
• Magnolia henryi
• Magnolia hodgsonii
• Magnolia boliviana
• Magnolia cespedesii
• Magnolia gilbertoi
• Magnolia wolfii
• Magnolia urraoense
• Magnolia fraseri
• Magnolia amoena

Magnolia Tree Facts

• Mississippi and Louisiana states of the U.S. have Magnolia as their official state flower.
• The nickname of Mississippi is "Magnolia State".
• The origin of the plants that belong to the family of Magnoliaceae are said to date back 95 million years ago.
• Magnolia trees were named after a French botanist, Pierre Magnol.

This was brief information on Magnolia tree varieties. Now that you are aware of the typical physical characteristics of different magnolia trees, plant them in your garden and add this natural beauty to your outdoors.