Swamp Magnolia (Magnolia Virginiana Var. Australis)

Features and Characteristics

Magnolia virginiana, commonly called sweet bay magnolia, is native to the southeastern United States north along the Atlantic coast to New York. In the northern part of its cultivated growing range, it typically grows as either a 15-20′ tall tree with a spreading, rounded crown or as a shorter, suckering, open, multi-stemmed shrub. In the far southern United States, it is apt to be more tree-like, sometimes growing to 60′ tall. Features cup-shaped, sweetly fragrant (lemony), 9-12 petaled, creamy white, waxy flowers (2-3″ diameter) which appear in mid-spring and sometimes continue sporadically throughout the summer. Oblong-lanceolate shiny green foliage is silvery beneath. Foliage is evergreen to semi-evergreen in warmer climates and semi-evergreen to fully deciduous in colder climates. Cone-like fruits with bright red seeds mature in fall and can be showy.

Var. austrlis is primarily found in the far southern United States and is distinguished from the species by having a layer of woolly, white hairs on the pedicles (flower stems) and new growth. Plants also tend to be larger and more reliably evergreen than the species.

Genus name honors Pierre Magnol, French botanist (1638-171- .

Specific epithet means of Virginia.