Saucer Magnolia

(Magnoliaceae - Magnolia Family)

Form

• medium-sized, multi-trunked ornamental tree
• maturing at about 25' tall by 25' wide
• upright oval growth habit in youth, becoming rounded, spreading, and mounding with age
• medium growth rate

Culture

• full sun to partial shade
• performs best in full sun in moist, acidic, deep soils but is quite adaptable to a wide range of soils, soil pHs, and pollution
• propagated primarily by rooted stem cuttings, but occasionally grafted or germinated from seeds
• Magnolia Family, with minor disease and pest problems that usually do not cause any harm, although sapsuckers may encircle the trunk on occasion with small holes
• moderately available, primarily in ball and burlap form
• Saucer Magnolia is somewhat sensitive to being transplanted in Autumn (as is typical of coarse- and fleshy-rooted woody plants), and care should be taken to amend the soil, fertilize, water thoroughly, mulch adequately, and avoid Winter salt spray, to enhance survival chances during the first Winter

Foliage

• leaves are medium to dark green, deciduous, alternate, oblong to elliptical, and up to 6" long
• fall color is green to chartreuse in November

Flowers

• Winter floral buds are large and fuzzy, giving rise to "candles" as they expand and open in late March and early April, long before the foliage emerges
• petals are pink-purple on the exterior and white in the interior, never fully reflexed when fully expanded, but very showy when not killed by cold temperatures
• flowers are large (up to 5" tall by 5" wide), but are frequently "browned" by early Spring frosts and freezes and rendered "frozen" on the stems until mid-Spring
• may sporadically have a very few flowers open anytime from late Summer to late Autumn, but this does not affect Spring flowering

Fruits

• sparse aggregate brown fruits split open to expose the orange interior seeds in September, but are ornamentally insignificant and rarely produced

Twigs

• stout stems are gray-brown, with prominent leaf scars, and are branched sympodially (several stems arise from the same point on a young branch, resembling fingers originating from an upturned hand)
• terminal floral and vegetative buds are densely and noticeably hirsute (fuzzy), and are much larger than the lateral buds

Trunk

• multitrunked, with bark that is light gray and smooth, even with age

ID Summary

• fuzzy Winter terminal buds are large and very distinctive on the stout stems, contributing to the bold Winter texture
• trunks and branches are a smooth gray, even at maturity
• the multitrunked, upright oval growth habit in youth gives way to a spreading habit with age (usually limbed up, and up to 25' tall and wide), with each trunk and its branches forming a subtle "mound" in the outline of the tree
• pink-purplish-white flowers occur abundantly in early Spring, but are frequently attacked by frosts and freezes before they reach full expansion
• sympodial branching, with stout gray-brown first-year stems

USAGE

Function

• specimen, focal point, entranceway, or street tree, often serving as an early Spring accent

Texture

• bold texture in foliage and when bare
• thick density in foliage and when bare

Assets

• outstanding floral display in a frost-free late March and early April
• flowers at a young age
• fuzzy, large Winter terminal buds
• ornamental smooth gray bark

Liabilities

• early Spring frosts and freezes often kill or damage the emerging floral "candles"
• hard freezes below -10 degrees Fahrenheit or harsh Winter winds may kill the floral buds outright or severely damage them, long before they are due to emerge
• poor fall color
• may become larger than expected with age, and outgrow the typical amount of space allocated to an ornamental tree

Habitat

• zones 4 to 9
• parents of this hybrid (Magnolia denudata x Magnolia liliiflora) are both native to China

SELECTIONS

Alternates

• companion trees and shrubs with prominent early Spring floral displays (Chaenomeles speciosa, Cornus mas, Corylopsis glabrescens, Hamamelis vernalis, etc.)
• woody plants with good Winter bud, bark, and/or growth habit character, or bold texture (Acer griseum, Aesculus hippocastum, Betula nigra, Corylus avellana 'Contorta', Gymnocladus dioicus, Magnolia stellata, etc.)

Variants

• Magnolia x soulangiana 'Alexandrina' - probably the most common cultivar, with characteristics generally as described in the above text for the species form (although the species form is most commonly sold)
• many new hybrids of early-flowering Magnolias have emerged with slightly later flowering times and shorter stature, available in various floral shades of white, pink, dark red, and purple; they are generally crosses of Magnolia stellata 'Rosea' and Magnolia liliiflora 'Nigra' and are rapidly replacing Magnolia x soulangiana in popularity, although they often get their flowers damaged by frosts and late freezes as well

NOTES

Translation

• Magnolia is named after Pierre Magnol, a 17th century French botanist.
• x soulangiana (sometimes misspelled as x soulangeana) is named after Etienne Soulange-Bodin, a Frenchman who raised the original hybrid of this plant on his plantation in France.

Purpose

• Saucer Magnolia is an early Spring-flowering tree that also has ornamental Winter floral buds, smooth gray bark, bold texture, and dense shade.

Summary

• Magnolia x soulangiana is an upright multi-trunked tree, having pink-white large showy early Spring flowers emerging long before the foliage (but the flowers are frequently killed by frosts and freezes).