66. Evergreen Magnolia

Sometimes called a Southern Magnolia, Bull-Bay, or Tulip Tree

Location: Okanogan Lane at the Southwest corner of the Atmospheric Science Building

Historical Background: The name Magnolia comes from French botanist Pierre Magnol who transplanted this tree to Europe 300 years ago. One the world's most famous ornamental trees, this species is native to the southern United States, where it grows large enough and fast enough to be a commercially valuable lumber tree. The tallest specimen of this species is located in Mississippi and is 37 meters tall. The wood is shock resistant, straight grained and tinted yellow or green. It is used for furniture, boxes, pallets, venetian blinds, sashes, doors, and veneers. The bark has been used for anti-anxiety medication and steroids for centuries. The antioxidants in this tree are 5 times stronger than Valium and can reduce inflammation. The Chocktaw Indians in present day Louisiana use a decoction of the bark (infused liquor) to treat itching as it gives off a burning sensation. 

Non-native

Native Range: Southern United States

Identifying Features: A gorgeous and common ornamental tree, the Southern magnolia has glossy bright green oblong leaves very different from most other large trees seen here in Seattle. The tree itself has a large conical crown and can achieve great height and width, but grows slowly in general. Large upright flowers make it, like others in the magnolia family, immensely fragrant, rising at the end of long solitary twigs in late summer. They produce oblong cone-like fruit covered in rust colored hairs and lacking the scales of conifers, with small red fruit contained inside.

Identifying Features In Depth:

1. Form: An evergreen broadleaf, with a straight trunk and dense conical crown. Grows to a height of 60-80’ (18-24m), and a width of 2-3’ (0.6-0.9m). 

2. Leaves: Shiny glossy dark green on top, pale with rust colored hair beneath. They are oblong to elliptical, very thick and firm (unlike those of deciduous magnolias), about 5-8” (13-20cm) in length, with the margins slightly curved under. Leafstalks are stout, with rust colored hairs.

3. Bark: dark gray and smooth, turning furrowed and scaly with age.

4. Reproductive Bodies: Large extremely fragrant flowers 6-8” (15-20cm) wide appear cup shaped with 3 white sepals and 6 or more interior petals occurring solitarily at the end of a twig in late spring and early summer. These give rise to cone-like oblong fruit from 3-4” (7.5-10cm) long, with brown fuzzy hairs across their skin and small potted slots in which reddish 2-seeded fruits reside, splitting open in early autumn.