Southern Magnolia or Bull Bay

Description:

Magnolia grandiflora is a medium to large evergreen tree which may grow 27.5 m (90 ft) tall.[1] It typically has a single stem (or trunk) and a pyramidal shape.[2] The leaves are simple and broadly ovate, 12–20 cm (5–8 in) long and 6–12 cm (2–5 in) broad,[2] with smooth margins. They are dark green, stiff and leathery, and often scurfy underneath with yellow-brown pubescence. The large, showy, citronella-scented flowers are white, up to 30 cm (12 in) across and fragrant, with 6–12 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 and 7.5–10 cm (3–4 in) long and 3–5 cm (1.5–2 in) wide.[3] Exceptionally large trees recorded include a 35 m (114 ft) high specimen from the Chickasawhay District, De Soto National Forest in Mississippi which measured 17 feet 8 inches in circumference at breast height, from 1961, and a 30 m (99 ft) tall tree from Baton Rouge in Louisiana which reached 18 feet in circumference at breast height.[3]