Flora of the Carolinas, Virginia, and Georgia, Working Draft of 17 March 2004 -- MAGNOLIACEAE
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Flora of the Carolinas, Virginia, and Georgia, Working Draft of 17 March 2004 -- MAGNOLIACEAE MAGNOLIACEAE (Magnolia Family) A family of about 7 genera and 165 species, trees and shrubs, tropical and warm temperate, of e. and se. Asia, and from e. North America south through West Indies and Central America to Brazil. References: Hardin (1972); Hardin & Jones (1989)=Z; Meyer in FNA (1997); Nooteboom in Kubitzki, Rohwer, & Bittrich (1993); Kim et al. (2001). 1 Leaves about as broad as long, (2-) 4 (-8)-lobed; fruit a 2-seeded, indehiscent samara; [subfamily Liriodendroideae] ........ ...................................................................................... Liriodendron 1 Leaves longer than broad, not lobed (in some species the leaves auriculate-cordate basally); fruit a cone-like aggregate, each follicle dehiscing to reveal the scarlet seed, at first connected to the follicle by a thread-like strand; [subfamily Magnolioideae] ..........................................................................................Magnolia Liriodendron Linnaeus (Tulip-tree) A genus of 2 species, trees, relictually distributed, with L. tulipifera in e. North America and L. chinense (Hemsley) Sargent in c. China and n. Vietnam. References: Nooteboom in Kubitzki, Rohwer, & Bittrich (1993); Weakley & Parks (in prep.), abbreviated as Z. 1 Leaves large, 4-8-lobed, the terminal lobes acute; [plants of the Mountains, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain (especially brownwater rivers and mesic bluffs and slopes)] . L. tulipifera var. tulipifera 1 Leaves small, 0-4-lobed, the terminal lobes obtuse to broadly rounded; [plants of the Coastal Plain, especially fire-maintained, acidic, and peaty sites] .................................................................L. tulipifera var. 1 Liriodendron tulipifera Linnaeus var. tulipifera, Tulip-tree, Yellow Poplar, Whitewood. Mt, Pd, Cp (GA, NC, SC, VA): mesic forests, cove forests in the Mountains to at least 1500m in elevation, bottomland forests and swamps; common. April-June; September-October. Widespread in e. North America. An important timber tree in the Southern Appalachians. [= Z; L. tulipifera -- RAB, C, F, FNA, G, GW, K, S, W, Z, infraspecific taxa not distinguished] Liriodendron tulipifera Linnaeus var. 1, Coastal Plain Tulip-tree, Southern Yellow Poplar. Cp (GA, NC, SC, VA): blackwater swamps, streamhead pocosins in the fall-line sandhills; uncommon. April-June; September-October. Its occurrence in fire-maintained, acid soil habitats in the Coastal Plain is surprising to people used to Liriodendron as a tree of mesic, rich soil forests. It is, however, a typical species of streamhead pocosins in the fall-line sandhills, growing with Pinus serotina, Nyssa biflora, and Acer rubrum, and often with scorch marks twenty feet up the trunk. [= Z; L. tulipifera -- RAB, C, F, FNA, G, GW, K, S, W, Z, infraspecific taxa not distinguished] Magnolia Linnaeus (Magnolia, Cucumber-tree) A genus of about 120 species, trees and shrubs, of e. Asia (Himalayas to Japan and w. Malaysia) and America (e. North America to West Indies and tropical America). The traditional sectional division is not well supported by molecular phylogenetics, which show Magnolia virginiana and M. grandiflora as closely related in a New World primarily subtropical clade, M. macrophylla, M. fraseri, and M. pyramidata together, M. acuminata as basal in a clade that is otherwise Asian (equivalent to subgenus Yulania), and M. tripetala grouped in another clade that is otherwise Asian (Azuma et al. 2001). References: Tobe (1998)=Y; Spongberg (1998)=X; Azuma, Thien, & Kawano (1999); Azuma et al. (2001); Nooteboom in Kubitzki, Rohwer, & Bittrich (1993); Kim et al. (2001); Hunt (1998). 1 Leaves cordate-auriculate at base; [section Rhytidospermum]. 2 Leaves glaucous and finely appressed-pubescent beneath; buds and twigs pubescent . M. macrophylla 2 Leaves green and glabrous beneath; buds and twigs glabrous. 3 Stamens 8-15 mm long; leaves (most of them) over 25 cm long; conelike aggregate fruit 6.5-11 (-14) cm long . ................................................................................. M. fraseri 3 Stamens 4-8 (-10.5) mm long; leaves (most of them) less than 25 cm long; conelike aggregate fruit 3.5-5.5 (-6) cm long .......................................................................... M. pyramidata 1 Leaves cuneate to rounded at base. 4 Leaves evergreen, coriaceous in texture, glossy dark green above as if varnished, rusty tomentose or green beneath; [“section Theorhodon”] .............................................................. M. grandiflora 4 Leaves semi-evergreen to deciduous, herbaceous or subcoriaceous in texture, medium green above with a slightly glossy or dull finish; glaucous or green beneath. 5 Leaves semi-evergreen, aromatic, 8-20 cm long, elliptic, strongly glaucous beneath; [section Magnolia] .......... .............................................................................. M. virginiana 5 Leaves deciduous, non-aromatic,10-50 cm long, either ovate or lance-obovate, green beneath. 6 Leaf base cuneate-attenuate; leaves 15-50 cm long, broader towards the tip, borne clustered on the end of the twig; buds glabrous; [section Rhytidospermum]........................................ M. tripetala 6 Leaf base rounded (rarely widely cuneate or cordate); leaves 10-30 cm long, broader near the middle or towards the base, borne scattered along the twig; buds pubescent; [section Tulipastrum]. 423 Flora of the Carolinas, Virginia, and Georgia, Working Draft of 17 March 2004 -- MALVACEAE 7 Twigs of the current year glabrous; petals greenish or greenish-yellow; plant a medium to large tree . ......................................................... M. acuminata var. acuminata 7 Twigs of the current year pubescent, or at least with persistent hair-bases, petals golden-yellow above, light-yellow below; plant a small tree (rarely larger) . M. acuminata var. subcordata Magnolia acuminata (Linnaeus) Linnaeus var. acuminata, Cucumber-tree. Mt, Pd (GA, NC, SC, VA): mesic to subxeric forests (up to at least 1550m, where growing with Betula alleghaniensis, Abies fraseri, Picea rubens, and Sorbus americana), ultramafic outcrop barrens (where codominant with Pinus rigida and Quercus alba); common (rare in Piedmont). April-May; July- August. Widespread in e. North America, primarily in or near the Appalachians. The recognition of two varieties is uncertain (see discussion below). [= C, F, G, W, X, Y; M. acuminata -- RAB, FNA, K, Z, in part; Tulipastrum acuminatum (Linnaeus) Small -- S] Magnolia acuminata (Linnaeus) Linnaeus var. subcordata (Spach) Dandy, Lowland Cucumber-tree. Pd (GA, NC, SC): moist slopes and bottomlands over mafic or calcareous rocks; uncommon. Var. subcordata ranges from sc. NC south to AL (and probably to w. TN and LA), in the lower Piedmont in our area. It has been treated variously as a variety, a species, or merged with M. acuminata. Coker (1943) discusses its history, distribution, and taxonomic status. Additional study is needed. [= X, Y; M. acuminata -- RAB, FNA, K, W, Z, in part; Tulipastrum cordatum (Michaux) Small -- S; Magnolia cordata Michaux] Magnolia fraseri Walter, Fraser Magnolia, Earleaf Umbrella-tree. Mt, Pd (GA, NC, SC, VA): mesic forests; common (uncommon in upper Piedmont only). April-May; July-August. A Southern Appalachian endemic: KY and w. VA south through w. NC and e. TN to nw. SC, n. GA, and ne. AL. [= RAB, C, F, FNA, G, K, S, W, Z; M. fraseri var. fraseri – X; M. fraseri ssp. fraseri – Y] Magnolia grandiflora Linnaeus, Southern Magnolia, Bull Bay. Cp, Pd (GA, NC, SC, VA): probably originally native only in SC and se. NC (in NC only in mainland forests with maritime influence, as, for instance, at Colkins Neck, Brunswick County, now largely destroyed by golf course development), now widely naturalized, spreading from cultivation into wet to mesic forests; common as an introduction (rare in the Piedmont), rare as a native species (NC Watch List). May-June; October. Curtis (1860) states that “the northern limit of this tree is in Brunswick County, south of the Cape Fear; but it flourishes in cultivation through all the lower part of the State.” The pre-Columbian range apparently from se. NC south to FL, west to TX and AR, now somewhat expanded by naturalization. This is, of course, the classic "southern magnolia," along with live oak (Quercus virginiana), and bald- cypress (Taxodium distichum), one of the totem trees of the Deep South. [= RAB, C, FNA, GW, K, S, Y, Z] Magnolia macrophylla Michaux, Bigleaf Magnolia. Pd (GA, NC, SC), Mt (VA), Cp (GA, SC*): mesic forests; rare (NC Rare, SC Rare, VA Rare). May-June; July-August. The range of this species is often stated in such a way as to imply that it is a tree of the southern mountains. Actually, it avoids the Southern Blue Ridge, reaching its greatest abundance in the sedimentary rock Appalachians west of the Blue Ridge, particularly the Cumberland Plateau, and occurs east of the Blue Ridge only as a rare disjunct. M. macrophylla ranges from s. OH and sw. VA south through e. TN to w. GA, west to AL, MS, n. LA, and se. AR (Sundell et al. 1999); disjunct in ne. AR, c. NC, c. SC, and e. SC (where probably not native). The leaves are up to 1.1 meter long and 3.5 dm wide. See Williams (1999) for additional information about the discovery and nomenclature of this species. The Gulf Coast endemic Magnolia ashei Weatherby is related and is sometimes treated as a variety or subspecies of M. macrophylla. [= RAB, C, F, FNA, G, K, S, W, Z; M. macrophylla