Genus: Magnolia
Magnolia virginiana L.
Common name: Sweet Bay Magnolia (Odenwald and Turner, 1996)
Other Common names (Small, 1933): Swamp-Bay, White-Bay, Beaver Tree
Ruth Ann Pannell, Biology Major
ruthiep@arches.uga.edu
Franklin College of Arts and Sciences
University of Georgia, Athens
Class: Magnoliopsida
SubClass: Magnolidae
Order: Ranales
Family: Magnoliaceae
Genus: Magnolia
Species: virginiana
Description of Magnolia grandiflora
Magnolia virginianais a medium sized tree which grows up to 27 meters tall with a diameter of around 1.2 meters (Everett, 1968) .Leaf:
"Leaves of Magnolia virginianaare aromatic, entire margined, glaucous below due to dense, flaky, epicuticular wax, stipulate with the scars encircling the twig, and with mainly filiform trichomes" (Hardin, 1992) .
Twigs:
Twigs of Magnolia virginianaare "slender, green, hairy at first" but then become red-brown and smooth. The terminal bud is about 3/4" long and is covered with silky fine hairs and is fragrant (Brown and Kirman, 1990) .
Flower:
Cream flower which is small, globular and very fragrant. The flowers extend two to three inches across and are found on the tree from early to late summer (Kelly, 1995) . Flowers are very fragrant with a lemon-scent (Radford, 1968) .
Fruit:
"Cone-like aggregate of follicles, dark red, ellipsoid, about 2" long; maturing July-October" (Brown and Kirman, 1990) The bark is thin and gray. It is smooth and "superficially scaly." The bark has a fragrant smell when crushed (Brown and Kirman, 1990) .
Form:
"Upright, columnar form with single trunk or multiple trunked dense mass" (Odenwald and Turner, 1996) .
Taxonomy
Magnolia virginiana was described by Linnaeus (Radford, 1968) . The genus Magnolia was named by Linnaeus in honor of Pierre Magnol, who was the physician of King Louis XIV of France and was the director of a botanical garden at Montpellier (Grimm, 1967) . Magnol was also a professor of Botany at Montpellier (Gray, 1864) .
Scientific Reference with Identification Key:
Radford, A.E., H.E. Ahles and C.R. Bell. 1968. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. University of North Carolina Press. Chapel Hill, NC. (ISBN 0-8078-1087-8).
Where to find this Species:
Magnolia virginiana is native from Massachusetts to Florida and Texas. It is abundant in coastal regions of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama (Odenwald and Turner, 1996) .
Species Distribution Chart
Magnolia virginiana L. |
| AREA | STATUS | REFERENCES |
North America:
Continental United States; Canada | Yes |
Duncan and Duncan, 1988 |
Eastern North America:
United States east of Mississippi;
Ontario and eastern Canada | Yes | Duncan and Duncan, 1988 |
Southeastern United States:
AL AR DE DC FL GA KY MD NC SC TN VA WV | Yes | Duncan and Duncan, 1988 |
Southern Appalachian States:
AL GA KY MD NC SC TN VA WV | Yes | Duncan and Duncan, 1988 |
|
| Coastal Plain | Common | Small, 1933;
|
| Piedmont | Yes | Brown and Kirman, 1990 |
| Blue Ridge Mountains | Occasional | Brown and Kirman, 1990 |
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park
| Yes | Duncan and Duncan, 1988 |
| Ridge and Valley | Occasional | Brown and Kirman, 1990 |
| Cumberland Plateau | No | Brown and Kirman, 1990 |
| Central Arch | No | Brown & Kirman, 1990 |
|
| Georgia | Yes | UGA Herbarium Specimens |
| Clarke County, Georgia | Yes | UGA Herbarium Specimens |
| Sams Farm | Probably not* | Ruthie Pannell, Pers. Ob. |
- Old Field
| Probably not* | Ruthie Pannell, Pers. Ob. |
- Wetland
| Probably not* | Ruthie Pannell, Pers. Ob. |
- Woods
| Probably not* | Ruthie Pannell, Pers. Ob. |
- 1-Hectare Plot
| No | Ruthie Pannell, Pers. Ob. |
*Magnolia virginianais "probably not" at Sam's Farm because most of the specimens found in Clarke County (by my personal observation) have been planted ornamentally.
Other Information about Magnolia virginiana:
Magnolia virginianaperforms well in a wide range of soil conditions from wet to slightly dry. It is common in moist, acid soils close to wet places such as ponds, streams, and cutover lands. Although Magnolia virginiana is a swamp or bog tree, it will grow well in fertile, moist well drained soils. It is found mostly in full sunlight to partial shade elevation (Odenwald and Turner, 1996) . Magnolia virginiana occurs to about 200 meters in elevation (Duncan and Duncan, 1988).
Magnolia virginianais often seen growing as a multi-trunked clump. It can be seen as a shrublike tree with a dense, upright form in the northern part of its range. As you move farther south it grows taller into tree form (Odenwald and Turner, 1996). Magnolia virginiana reaches a maximum height of 60 feet and a trunk diameter of about 20 inches in its native coastal swamps from North Carolina to Florida and Louisiana (Everett, 1968).
Magnolia virginiana is likely to be fully evergreen in the southernmost part of its range and deciduous in the northernmost habitats. Elsewhere Magnolia virginiana loses most of its foliage in the winter but is never fully nude (Everett, 1968) .
Uses:
Magnolia virginiana is used in landscaping because of its form and its fragrant ivory flowers. Because it is small it has little economic importance but when it is large enough to harvest it can be used for furniture, paneling, veneer, pulp, tool handles, cabinet work, and for crates (Brown and Kirman, 1990) .
How to encounter Magnolia virginiana:
In Athens, Magnolia virginiana is planted on the UGA campus as an ornamental tree. One is planted between the Forestry Building and the Creamery on South Campus. As you was East down the walkway a specimen is on the left (North). In general, it is common in wet places in the woods or along streams. It also can be found in flat woods and swamps (Cronquist and Gleason, 1991) .
How to distinguish Magnolia virginiana from other Taxa:
Magnolia virginiana may occur in the same habitat with the Loblolly Bay, Gordonia lasianthus. Magnolia virginiana can be distinguished because the leaves of Magnolia virginiana are entire with "silvery pubescence underneath" while the Loblolly Bay leaves are "shallowly toothed and glabrous beneath" (Brown and Kirman, 1990) . Also, this plant is easily recognized when a breeze exposes the light, silvery-colored undersurface of it's leaves (Duncan and Duncan, 1988) .
Useful Links for further study of Magnolia virginiana
References
- Brown, C. and K. Kirman. 1990 Trees of Georgia and Adjacent States. Timber Press, INC. Portland, OR.
- Cronquist, A. and H. Gleason. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of the Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. 2nd Ed. New york Botanical Garden, New York.
- Duncan, W.H. and W.B. Duncan. 1988. Trees of the Southeastern United States. The University of Georgia Press. Athens, GA.(ISBN 0-8203-0954-0). 322 pages.
- Everett, T.H. 1968. Living Trees of the World. Chanticleer Press New York.
- Gray, A. 1864. Lessons in Botany. Ivison, Phinney, Blakeman & Co. New York.
- Grimm, William C. 1967. Familiar Trees of America. Harper and Row Publishers. New York.
- Hardin, J.W. 1992. Foliar Morphology of the Common Trees of North Carolina and Adjacent Sates. Dept. of Botany, North Carolina University. Raleigh, NC.
- Kelly, John. 1995. The Hillier Gardner's Guide to Trees and Shrubs. The Readers Digest Association, INC. Italy. (ISBN 0-89577-973-0.)
- Milne, L. and M. Milne. 1975. Living Plants fo the World. Chanticleer Press. New York.
- Odenwald, N. and J. Turner. 1996. Identification Selection and Use of Southern Plants for Landscape Design. 3rd Ed. Claitor's Publishing Division. Baton Rouge, LA.
- Radford, A.E., H.E. Ahles and C.R. Bell. 1968. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. University of North Carolina. Press. Chapel Hill, NC.(ISBN 0-8078-1087-8.)
- Small, John K. 1933. Manual of the Southeastern Flora. Published by the Author. New York.
Special thanks to Bryan, Beth, and Ben for all your help and patience!
