Magnolia fraseri

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Fraser magnolia
Magnolia fraseri - Curtis.jpg
From Curtis's Botanical Magazine ; or Flower Garden Displayed (London, 1809, volume 30, plate 1206). Hand-colored engraving by Francis Sansom after Sydenham Teast Edwards.
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Magnoliids
Order: Magnoliales
Family: Magnoliaceae
Genus: Magnolia
Subgenus: Magnolia subg. Magnolia
Section: Magnolia sect. Auriculata
Species:
M. fraseri
Binomial name
Magnolia fraseri
Magnolia fraseri range map.jpg
Natural range

Magnolia fraseri, commonly known as Fraser magnolia, mountain magnolia, earleaf cucumbertree, or mountain-oread, is a species of magnolia native to the south-eastern United States in the southern Appalachian Mountains and adjacent Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain from West Virginia south to northern Florida and west to eastern Texas. The Appalachian plants are classified as Magnolia fraseri var. fraseri, and the more coastal plants as M. fraseri var. pyramidata. These two kinds of magnolia are often recognized as distinct species, M. fraseri and M. pyramidata, respectively.

Contents

Fraser magnolia is a small, deciduous tree growing to 14 m (40 ft) tall, as a basal-branching, fragrant plant, with brown bark with a "warty" or "scaly" texture. The leaves are quite large, 15–25 cm (rarely up to 53 cm) long and 8–18 cm (rarely up to 29 cm) broad, with a pair of auricles (or "ear-lobes") at the base and an entire margin; they are green above and glaucous blue-green below. The showy white flowers are 16–25 cm in diameter with nine tepals; they open in late spring or early summer, after the foliage. The fruit is a woody, oblong, cone-like structure (like all Magnolias) 6.5–12 cm long, covered in small, pod-like follicles each containing one or two red seeds that hang out from the cone by a slender thread when ripe. A good seed crop occurs only about every 4–5 years. Reproduction is accomplished by both seed and vegetative sprouts. The fruit is eaten by wildlife, helping disperse the seeds. In the Appalachian Mountains, the Fraser Magnolia is a popular nest tree for the Virginia Northern Flying Squirrel. [3]

This tree grows best on rich, moist, well-drained soil. The very large showy white flowers and large-leaved, coarse-textured foliage make this an attractive ornamental tree, but otherwise it has little commercial value. It is sometimes cultivated in North America as a native alternative to exotic magnolias, and can be grown a considerable distance north of its natural range if given conditions favorable to its growth.

There are two varieties:

The bigleaf magnolia (Magnolia macrophylla) also has auriculate-lobed leaves.

Fraser Magnolia is named for the Scottish botanist John Fraser (1750–1811), who collected extensively in the Appalachian Mountains.

Related Research Articles

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Magnolia is a large genus of about 210 to 340 flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae of the family Magnoliaceae. The natural range of Magnolia species is disjunct, with a main center in east and southeast Asia and a secondary center in eastern North America, Central America, the West Indies, and some species in South America.

<i>Cornus florida</i> Species of flowering plant in the dogwood family Cornaceae

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<i>Magnolia acuminata</i> Species of tree

Magnolia acuminata, commonly called the cucumber tree, cucumber magnolia or blue magnolia, is one of the largest magnolias, and one of the cold-hardiest. It is a large forest tree of the Eastern United States and Southern Ontario in Canada. It is a tree that tends to occur singly as scattered specimens, rather than in groves.

<i>Magnolia virginiana</i> Species of tree in the magnolia family, Magnoliaceae

Magnolia virginiana, most commonly known as sweetbay magnolia, or merely sweetbay, is a member of the magnolia family, Magnoliaceae. It was the first magnolia to be scientifically described under modern rules of botanical nomenclature, and is the type species of the genus Magnolia; as Magnolia is also the type genus of all flowering plants (magnoliophytes), this species in a sense typifies all flowering plants.

<i>Magnolia grandiflora</i> Species of tree

Magnolia grandiflora, commonly known as the southern magnolia or bull bay, is a tree of the family Magnoliaceae native to the Southeastern United States, from Virginia to central Florida, and west to East Texas. Reaching 27.5 m (90 ft) 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 (12 in) in diameter.

<i>Magnolia stellata</i> Species of shrub or tree

Magnolia stellata, sometimes called the stellaris magnolia, is a slow-growing shrub or small tree native to Japan. It bears large, showy white or pink flowers in early spring, before its leaves open. This species is closely related to the Kobushi magnolia, and is treated by many botanists as a variety or even a cultivar of that. However, Magnolia stellata was accepted as a distinct species in the 1998 monograph by Hunt.

<i>Magnolia tripetala</i> Species of tree

Magnolia tripetala, commonly called umbrella magnolia or simply umbrella-tree, is a deciduous tree native to the eastern United States in the Appalachian Mountains, the Ozarks, and the Ouachita Mountains. The name "umbrella tree" derives from the fact that the large leaves are clustered at the tips of the branches forming an umbrella-shaped structure.

<i>Magnolia macrophylla</i> Species of tree

Magnolia macrophylla, the bigleaf magnolia, is a deciduous magnolia native to the southeastern United States and eastern Mexico. This species boasts the largest simple leaf and single flower of any native plant in North America.

<i>Magnolia sieboldii</i> Species of tree

Magnolia sieboldii, or Siebold's magnolia, also known as Korean mountain magnolia and Oyama magnolia, is a species of Magnolia native to east Asia in China, Japan, and Korea. It is named after the German doctor Philipp Franz von Siebold (1796–1866).

<i>Magnolia officinalis</i> Species of flowering plant

Magnolia officinalis is a species of Magnolia native to the mountains and valleys of China at altitudes of 300–1500 m.

<i>Larix decidua</i> Species of conifer in the pine family Pinaceae

Larix decidua, the European larch, is a species of larch native to the mountains of central Europe, in the Alps and Carpathian Mountains as well as the Pyrenees, with disjunct lowland populations in northern Poland and southern Lithuania. It is widely naturalized in Scandinavia. Its life span has been confirmed to be close to 1000 years but is more often around 200 years. It is claimed that one of the larches planted by the second Duke of Atholl at Dunkeld in 1738 is still standing.

<i>Carya ovata</i> Species of tree

Carya ovata, the shagbark hickory, is a common hickory in the Eastern United States and southeast Canada. It is a large, deciduous tree, growing well over 100 ft (30 m) tall, and can live more than 350 years. The tallest measured shagbark, located in Savage Gulf, Tennessee, is over 150 ft (46 m) tall. Mature shagbarks are easy to recognize because, as their name implies, they have shaggy bark. This characteristic is, however, only found on mature trees; young specimens have smooth bark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fraser fir</span> Species of conifer

The Fraser fir, sometimes spelled" Frasier fir, is an endangered species of fir native to the Appalachian Mountains of the Southeastern United States. They are endemic to only seven montane regions in the Appalachian Mountains.

<i>Carya cordiformis</i> Species of tree

Carya cordiformis, the bitternut hickory, also called bitternut, yellowbud hickory, or swamp hickory, is a large pecan hickory with commercial stands located mostly north of the other pecan hickories. Bitternut hickory is cut and sold in mixture with the true hickories. It is the shortest-lived of the hickories, living to about 200 years.

<i>Magnolia sprengeri</i> Species of flowering plant

Magnolia sprengeri, or Sprenger's magnolia, is a species of Magnolia native to China, occurring in Gansu, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, and Sichuan in forests or thickets at 1300–2400 m altitude. Named for Carl Ludwig Sprenger, a botanist of note.

<i>Rhododendron maximum</i> Species of flowering plant

Rhododendron maximum — its common names include great laurel, great rhododendron, rosebay rhododendron, American rhododendron and big rhododendron — is a species of Rhododendron native to the Appalachians of eastern North America, from Alabama north to coastal Nova Scotia.

<i>Magnolia kobus</i> Species of tree

Magnolia kobus, known as mokryeon, kobus magnolia, or kobushi magnolia, is a species of Magnolia native to Japan and Korea and occasionally cultivated in temperate areas. It is a deciduous, small to tall tree which has a slow rate of growth but can reach 8–15 m (25–50 ft) in height and up to 10 m (35 ft) in spread.

<i>Hydrangea radiata</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Hydrangeaceae

Hydrangea radiata is an attractive, deciduous shrub up to 3 m tall in the flowering plant family Hydrangeaceae. Its natural range is limited to the southern Appalachians, where it is fairly common. Its common names—silverleaf hydrangea or snowy hydrangea—reflect its distinctive foliage which is dark green on top and silvery white below; the sharply contrasting foliar colors makes this shrub conspicuous at a distance, especially in a breeze.

<i>Magnolia × thompsoniana</i> Hybrid species of tree

Magnolia × thompsoniana is a hybrid plant in the genus Magnolia and family Magnoliaceae. It is a semideciduous tree with large white fragrant flowers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hypericum fraseri</span> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Triadenum fraseri, commonly known as bog St. John's wort, Fraser's St. John's wort, and Fraser's marsh St. John's wort, is a perennial flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae that grows in wetlands of Canada and the northern United States. It is named after John Fraser (1750–1811), a Scottish botanist and widely travelled plant collector.

References

  1. Khela, S. (2014). "Magnolia fraseri". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2014: e.T193941A2291599. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-1.RLTS.T193941A2291599.en . Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2.  Magnolia fraseri was first described and published in Flora Caroliniana, secundum Systema vegetabilium Linnæi digesta, characteres essentiales naturalesve et differentias veras exhibens; cum emendationibus numerosis, descriptionum antea evulgatarum adumbrationes stirpium plus mille continens, necnon generibus novis non paucis, speciebus plurimis novisq. ornata. London 159. 1788 "Plant Name Details for Magnolia fraseri". IPNI . Retrieved June 6, 2011. Distribution: United States of America (Northern America) / Type Information: Locality: Carolina
  3. Menzel, Jennifer (2004). "Nest Tree Use by the Endangered Virginia Northern Flying Squirrel in the Central Appalachian Mountains". 151(2).{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)