Sweetbay Magnolia
Magnolia virginiana
Magnoliaceae
Other names
Laurel Magnolia, Swamp Magnolia
Growth habit
Shrub
Perennation
Long-lived polycarpic perennial
Native distribution
MA to FL and TX Near the Coast
Location
Floriculture War Memorial Trail
Source of plant
Arborvillage Farm Nursery, Woodlanders Inc., Highland Botanical Park, Weston Nurseries
Description
Small, multiple-stemmed deciduous shrub of loose, open, upright-spreading habit in the north; semi-evergreen to evergreen in the south, and forming a large pyramidal tree. Flowers creamy-white, lemon-scented, 2" to 3" in diameter with 9 to 12 petals, soliatary, not produced in great abundance, often borne continuously on leafy shoots from May and June to September; apparantly slow to flower in youth. Fruit an aggregate of follicles 2" long, dark red, very handsome when the bright red seeds are exposed.
USDA Hardiness Zone
5
Special characteristics
fragrance