Description
Magnolia grandiflora is a medium to large evergreen tree which may grow 120 ft (37 m) tall.[6] It typically has a single stem (or trunk) and a pyramidal shape.[7] The leaves are simple and broadly ovate, 12–20 cm (4+3⁄4–7+3⁄4 in) long and 6–12 cm (2+1⁄4–4+3⁄4 in) broad,[7] with smooth margins. They are dark green, stiff, and leathery, and often scurfy underneath with yellow-brown pubescence.
The large, showy, lemon citronella-scented flowers are white, up to 30 cm (11+3⁄4 in) across and fragrant, with six to 12 petals with a waxy texture, emerging from the tips of twigs on mature trees in late spring.[8]
Flowering is followed by the rose-colored fruit, ovoid polyfollicle, 7.5–10 cm (3–3+7⁄8 in) long, and 3–5 cm (1+1⁄4–2 in) wide.[9]
Exceptionally large trees have been reported in the far Southern United States. The national champion is a specimen in Smith County, Mississippi, that stands 37 m (121 ft). Another record includes a 35-m-high specimen from the Chickasawhay District, De Soto National Forest, in Mississippi, which measured 17.75 ft (5.4 m) in circumference at breast height, from 1961, and a 30-m-tall tree from Baton Rouge, which reached 18 ft in circumference at breast height.[9]