General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Tree
Sun Requirements: Full Sun
Full Sun to Partial Shade
Partial or Dappled Shade
Water Preferences: Mesic
Soil pH Preferences: Strongly acid (5.1 – 5.5)
Moderately acid (5.6 – 6.0)
Slightly acid (6.1 – 6.5)
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 7a -17.8 °C (0 °F) to -15 °C (5 °F)
Maximum recommended zone: Zone 10a
Plant Height: 60 to 80 feet (18-24m)
Plant Spread: 30 to 50 feet (9-15m)
Leaves: Evergreen
Broadleaf
Other: leaves are alternately arranged
Fruit: Showy
Edible to birds
Fruiting Time: Late summer or early fall
Fall
Late fall or early winter
Flowers: Showy
Fragrant
Flower Color: White
Bloom Size: 6"-12"
Flower Time: Spring
Late spring or early summer
Summer
Late summer or early fall
Underground structures: Taproot
Suitable Locations: Street Tree
Uses: Provides winter interest
Shade Tree
Flowering Tree
Cut Flower
Wildlife Attractant: Birds
Resistances: Humidity tolerant
Salt tolerant
Propagation: Seeds: Self fertile
Stratify seeds: cold, moist for at least 60 days
Days to germinate: a few weeks or more
Depth to plant seed: 1/4" to 1/2"
Sow in situ
Other info: seeds should be planted 1/4" to 1/2" deep & kept moist until they germinate which will take a few weeks or longer
Propagation: Other methods: Cuttings: Stem
Layering
Other: semi hardwood cuttings are best for propagating
Pollinators: Beetles
Containers: Not suitable for containers

Image
Common names
  • Southern Magnolia
  • Large-Flowered Magnolia
  • Evergreen Magnolia
  • Bull Bay
  • Magnolia

Photo Gallery
Location: Oklahoma Restaurant Association landscape
Date: 2001-07-22
Saved vy a bell.......................
Location: Our yard, DeLand, FL
Date: 2018-04-21
Location: Willow Valley Communities Lakes Campus, Willow Street, Pennsylvania USA
Date: 2019-10-23
Location: Norco, LA
Date: Spring
Magnolia Grandiflora flower
Location: Port Orange, Florida
Date: 2018-10-13
Location: Port Orange, Florida
Date: 2018-04-27
Location: Fountain, Florida
Date: 2020-04-24
Location: Galveston, Tx. 
Date: 2012-04-28
Location: At Filoli gardens - Woodside, CA
Date: 2013-07-06
An immensely beautiful Magnolia tree
Location: NSW Australia
Date: 2015-11-30
Magnolia grandiflora greets the morning
Location: Botanical Gardens of the State of Georgia...Athens, Ga
Date: 2015-05-28
Magnolia Blossom 022
Location: Lancaster PA
Location: Lancaster PA 
Date: 2020-10-13

Date: 2017-09-18
Location: Opp, AL  Z8b
Date: 2022-06-27
Location: My garden NSW Australia
Date: 2015-11-30
Magnolia grandiflora bloom
Location: Fairfax, VA
Location: Dallas Arboretum and botanical gardens, Dallas, Texas
Date: 2023-06-04
Location: Botanical Gardens of the State of Georgia...Athens, Ga
Date: 2018-05-20
Magnolia Blossom 020
Location: Private garden, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Date: 2020-06-15
Location: Port Orange, Florida
Date: 2018-05-03
Location: Aberdeen, NC
Date: October 3, 2021
Magnolia #26; RAB p. 473, 80-2-2; LHB p. 416, 74-1-13, "From Pier
Location: Fountain, Florida
Date: 2020-04-24
Location: Galveston, Tx. 
Date: 2012-04-28
Location: Fairfax, VA
Location: San Antonio Botanical Garden
Date: 2021-10-01
Location: Fairfax, VA

Date: 2018-08-01
Location: Aberdeen, NC
Date: May 4, 2022
Magnolia #26; RAB p. 473, 80-2-2; LHB p. 416, 74-1-13, "From Pier
Location: Aberdeen, NC
Date: May 4, 2022
Magnolia #26; RAB p. 473, 80-2-2; LHB p. 416, 74-1-13, "From Pier
Location: Port Orange, Florida
Date: 2018-05-16
Fresh and fading blooms.
Location: Falls Church, Virginia, US
Date: 2018-09-26
Location: Opp, AL  Z8b
Date: 2023-11-17
Location: Winter Springs, Florida, United States
Date: 2020-01-04
Location: my garden 
Date: 2015-07-23
Location: Winter Springs, Florida, United States
Date: 2019-12-30
Location: Southern Pines, NC
Date: Circa 1980
Acrylic by Patricia McKimmon Tucker
Location: North Louisiana
Date: 2019-05-13
Location: Saint George, Utah, United States

Date: 2015-07-25
Location: Charleston, SC
Date: 2016-06-20
Magnolia blooming at Hampton Park
Location: East Tennessee 
Date: 2014-05-27
Location: historic downtown of Acworth, GA
Date: 2021-12-04
red berries of the seed pod, visible in December
Location: Fairfax, VA | March, 2023
Date: 2023-03-25
Location: Coastal San Diego County 
Date: 2018-07-04
Location: Opp, AL  Z8b
Date: 2022-06-27
Location: San Antonio, TX
Date: 2019-10-16
Location: Tampa Bay, Florida 
Date: May
Magnolia Grandiflora
Location: Central Louisiana
Date: July 2014
Dumpster dive rescue rewards me with beautiful blooms every year.

Date: 2018-06-05
{"cameraType":"Wide","macroEnabled":false,"qualityMode":2,"device

Date: 2018-06-05
{"colorSpace":"kCGColorSpaceSRGB","cameraType":"Wide","macroEnabl
Location: Gulf Shore, MS
Date: 2023-10-08
Location: North Louisiana
Date: 2019-05-13
Location: South Australia
Date: 2017-01-14
Location: East Texas
Date: May, 2009
Magnolia grandiflora bloom...smells like heaven.
Location: Green Spring Gardens, Alexandria, Virginia, US
Date: 2020-09-17
Location: Barcelona, Spain |April, 2023 (uploaded. This image is much older)
Date: 2023-04-03
Location: Willow Valley Communities, Lakes Campus, Willow Street, Pennsylvania
Date: 2021-07-31

Date: c. 1865
illustration by Bessa from Michaux's 'The North American Sylva',
Location: Botanical Gardens of the State of Georgia...Athens, Ga
Date: 2018-05-26
Magnolia Blossom 009
Location: Port Orange, Florida
Date: 2018-05-15
Location: Botanical Gardens of the State of Georgia...Athens, Ga
Date: 2018-06-07
Southern Magnolia - Days Of Glory 002
Location: historic downtown of Acworth, GA
Date: 2021-12-04

Date: 2011-07-05
USDA
Location: Western Kentucky
Date: Sep 22, 2011 1:15 PM
First seedpod on this young magnolia
Location: my garden 
Date: 2015-07-23
Location: Gulf Shore, MS
Date: 2023-10-08
Location: my front yard zone 9
Date: 2020-03-29
New leaves not flower buds

Photo courtesy of: MomentsForZen

Photo courtesy of: Rod Waddington

Photo courtesy of: MomentsForZen

Photo courtesy of: Rod Waddington
Location: Dallas, TX Zone 8a
Date: 2016-04-13
This is a closeup of a bud on my Magnolia.
Photo by dave
Location: Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, N.S.W., Australia
Date: 2013-03-28
Location: Goldthwaite, TX
Date: 2012-09-20
Location: Aberdeen, NC Pages Lake park
Date: June 12, 2023
Magnolia #26: Ask kids, we called these "hand grenades", and used
Location: Charleston, SC
Date: 2013-05-17
This neighborhood magnolia looked somewhat 'scaly', but the flowe
Location: Aphrodite Hills Resort, Cyprus
Date: May
credit: Anna Anichkova
Location: East Tennessee 
Date: 2014-05-27
Location: Bryan, TX
Date: Jun 10, 2007 10:32 AM
Location: Botanical Gardens of the State of Georgia...Athens, Ga
Date: 2018-06-07
Southern Magnolia - Days Of Glory Past 003
Location: Opp, AL
Date: 2015-04-19
Location: my garden 
Date: 2015-07-23
Location: Our yard, DeLand, FL
Date: 2015-05-09
Location: Our Yard DeLand, FL
Date: 2009-05-05
Location: Flowery Branch, GA
Date: May 2017

Date: 2013-04-20
Photo courtesy of: MomentsForZen
Location: Goldthwaite, TX
Date: 2012-09-20
Tree is about fifteen years old.
Location: Goldthwaite, TX
Date: 2012-09-20
Location: Goldthwaite, TX
Date: 2012-09-20
Location: Goldthwaite, TX
Date: 2012-09-20
Location: Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
Date: 2007-03-01
mature tree in yard
Location: South Carolina
Date: March in 2006
a row of trees at an arboretum
Location: Opp, AL
Date: 10-12-12

photo credit: H. Zell
Location: Chapin, SC
Date: 2016-09-23

Date: 2008-06-08
Photo courtesy of: Ivo Antusek

Date: 2008-06-04
Photo courtesy of: Ivo Antusek

credit: Pollinator
This plant is tagged in:
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Comments:
  • Posted by Sharon (Calvert City, KY - Zone 7a) on Sep 26, 2011 11:54 PM concerning plant:
    I started this plant from seed. A few years ago I had a huge fully mature Magnolia growing too close to my house and the wet soil from heavy spring rains tilted it to about a 45 degree angle. The tree had to go, but I saved one of the seed pods. I knew nothing about growing Magnolias from seed, but pretended to be a bird and dropped a few of the seeds in some select places in my flower garden. The following spring, I had two seedlings. I gave one of them away and kept this one, but moved it to my back garden. It is now about 12 feet tall and produced its first bloom this year.

    Two or three years later, another seedling appeared in one of the places I'd planted those seeds. Now I have another that is about 3 feet tall. Amazing how that happens. Nature's surprises.
  • Posted by ILPARW (southeast Pennsylvania - Zone 6b) on Apr 20, 2019 9:58 AM concerning plant:
    The Southern Magnolia has a native range discovered in the 1700's as from coastal North Carolina down to central Florida to along the Gulf Coast to a little over the Texas border. It has large, coarse-textured, shiny, leathery leaves about 5 to 10 inches long by 2 to 3 inches wide and brown hairy below the leaves. The fragrant flowers are 6 to 9 inches in diameter and have 3 sepals and 6 to 12 white petals. The aggregate follicle fruit is light brown and about 3 to 4 inches long with big red seeds. The bark is brown-gray and scaly. It grows 25 to 80 feet tall with a trunk that gets 2 to 3 feet in diameter. It is a common tree in the South USA, sold by most nurseries there. Some hardier selections as 'Bracken's Brown Beauty,' Edith Bogue,' 'Select #3,' and 'Little Gem' do well in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania region of Zone 6b, and the mother species does well all though the Delmarva Peninsula.
  • Posted by robertduval14 (Milford, New Hampshire - Zone 5b) on Apr 18, 2013 9:51 PM concerning plant:
    State tree of Mississippi.
  • Posted by stetchworth (Ocean Springs, MS - Zone 8b) on Sep 29, 2011 7:36 PM concerning plant:
    I planted my magnolia when it was about a foot tall. I transplanted it from a friend's property and the first couple of years it did nothing. Then all of a sudden it started to take off. I have had mine for about 12 years now and it is now about 12 feet tall. It gets large white blooms that smell heavenly. They are all over southern Mississippi and it is the state tree.
Plant Events from our members
tabbycat On March 15, 2024 Maintenance performed
Started dropping leaves as seasonal. New growth follows then May flowers!
tabbycat On April 20, 2022 Bloomed
Started blooming overnight with no warning to be seen. Will have dozens this year.
tabbycat On April 25, 2021 Bloomed
1st 4 of 2021 opening today
tabbycat On April 11, 2020 Bloomed
1st of 2020 about 1/2 way up west side
tabbycat On May 16, 2019 Bloomed
1st ever flower on this 8 year old from seeds planted by birds. By June 1 it made 3 flowers & total 5 flowers. I'm thrilled having waited so many years!
SuperHappyCamper On November 5, 2021 Seeds sown
Cold stratification of seeds started.
WebTucker On May 4, 2022 Bloomed
WebTucker On October 3, 2021 Fruit Ripened
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