Flowering Trees & Shrubs Codexery

Magnolia

Ancient flowering trees and shrubs with large, fragrant blooms and a rich cultural legacy.

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Magnolia

William (Ned) Friedman · via Wikipedia: Magnolia · CC BY-SA 4.0

The flowering plant genus Magnolia, placed within the subfamily Magnolioideae of the family Magnoliaceae, encompasses a range of roughly 210 to 340 species.[1] Evidence indicates that the genus Magnolia is of considerable antiquity, with its origins traceable to the Cretaceous period.[2] Specimens of M. acuminata that have been fossilized and dated are known from around 20 million years ago.[2]

Scientific classification

  1. CladeTracheophytes
  2. CladeAngiosperms
  3. CladeMagnoliids
  4. OrderMagnoliales
  5. FamilyMagnoliaceae
  6. GenusMagnolia

Named by L.

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Magnolia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Biology and range

Magnolias are spreading evergreen or deciduous trees or shrubs with large fragrant flowers.[3] The genus is mainly distributed in SE Asia, Central America, eastern and southern North America, and northern South America.[4] Fossils of Magnolia are known from the Paleogene, such as Magnolia nanningensis from the Oligocene of Guangxi, China.[5] New species are still being discovered, like Magnolia vargasiana found in Ecuador in 2014.[6]

During spring, the flowers of deciduous Magnolia species frequently emerge prior to the foliage.[3] Come autumn, cone-shaped fruits are a common occurrence.[3] Beetles that pollinate the flowers often cause damage to the carpels.[7]

What the specialist sources record

The same source provides a checklist for those who prefer to recognize Magnolioideae as including only the genus Magnolia.[4] The Flora of North America account describes Magnolia ashei as the rarest Magnolia species in the flora, limited to six counties in the Florida panhandle.[8] That account states M. ashei differs from M. macrophylla in being a smaller, often multitrunked tree with smaller leaves and fewer stamens and pistils.[8] According to the Flora of China, co-author Nooteboom's view is that the family Magnoliaceae comprises two monogeneric subfamilies, with Magnolioideae containing only the genus Magnolia and Liriodendroideae containing only Liriodendron.[4]

A classification from 2012, authored by Richard B. Figlar and made available by the Magnolia Society, arranges Magnolia species into 3 subgenera, 12 sections, and 13 subsections.[9][10]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Magnolia" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: The number of species in the genus Magnolia depends on the taxonomic view that one takes. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera T (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Magnolia" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Crane, "Magnolias and their allies: Proceedings of an International Symposium, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey, U.K., 12-13 April 1996", 1988, p. 21; Peigler, "A review of pollination of Magnolias by beetles, with a collecting survey made in the Carolinas", Magnolia, 1988, p. 1–7 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Magnolia" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Royal Horticultural Society A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants", Dorling Kindersley, 2008, p. 661 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. 4. Magnoliaceae, Flora of China. facts only, no text reused. efloras.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Magnolia" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Huang, "Mummified Magnoliaceae woods from the upper Oligocene of South China, with biogeography, paleoecology, and wood trait evolution implications", Journal of Systematics and Evolution, January 2020, p. 89–100 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Magnolia" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Antonio Vázquez-García, "Magnolia vargasiana (Magnoliaceae), a new Andean species and a key to Ecuadorian species of subsection Talauma, with notes on its pollination biology", July 17, 2015 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Magnolia" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bernhardt, "Convergent evolution and adaptive radiation of beetle-pollinated angiosperms", Plant Systematics and Evolution, 2000, p. 293–320 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. "Magnolia ashei in Flora of North America @ efloras.org", eFloras.org Home. facts only, no text reused. efloras.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Magnolia" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Figlar, "Magnolia Classification", Magnolia Society International, April 2012; Figlar, "Notes on Magnoliaceae IV", Blumea, 2004, p. 87–100 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Figlar, "Magnolia Classification", Magnolia Society International, April 2012. facts only, no text reused. magnoliasociety.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Magnolia (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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