Happy Monday GPODers!
Since September of last year Allyson Levy has been sharing insights, information and inspiration from Hortus Arboretum and Botanical Gardens, the impressive property that she manages with partner Scott Serrano and is generous to share with the public (Check out previous submissions: Growing Pawpaws, Special Fall Plants, Fall is for Purple, and Fallen Leaves and Seed Heads). Allyson and Scott use their 21-acre arboretum and botanical garden in Stone Ridge, New York to sustain native, unusual and historic plant life and encourage others to appreciate under-loved plants. In today’s submission Allyson continues this mission by exploring the wonderful world of magnolias. While a well-loved tree in much of the United States, there might be more to this flowering woody than you imagine.
Without a doubt, the magnolia family is hands down one of my favorites. Maybe because of the fact that their ancestral lineage goes back to when dinosaurs roamed the earth, making them truly prehistoric trees, a “living fossil”! Having existed for over 95 million years, they are one of the most ancient flowering plants still living today, with their natural growing range including eastern North America, Central America, and Asia. Eight species of magnolia are native to the United States.
Magnolias are regarded as some of the most primitive flowering plants. Due to their ancient history, these flowers depend on beetles as their primary pollinators, since beetles evolved before many of the more complex pollinators. Magnolias have had an extensive period to co-evolve with beetles, which has allowed the flowers to retain many primitive traits or adaptations that ensure pollination by beetles.
Magnolia flowers have petals and sepals that resemble each other so closely that botanists refer to them simply as tepals. At the base of the tepals the flower produces a sweet substance a “nectar” that lures the beetles in. Floral scent is another way beetles find magnolia flowers. Although not all magnolias have strong aromas, many perfume the air with a lemony, spicy-sweet scent, like the native species sweetbay magnolia (M. virginiana, Zones 5–10) (above), which attracts beetles and both plant lovers and gardeners alike.
Another interesting anatomical characteristic is that magnolia flowers possess tough carpels, the female parts of the flower, evolved to prevent damage from beetle mandibles as they feed on “nectar,” pollen, and pretty much all the floral parts. As night approaches, the innermost tepals close around the carpel, trapping the visiting beetle, who just so happens to deposit pollen all over the flower’s receptive stigmas. Then the anthers become active, covering the same beetle in fresh pollen, so when the tepals open in the morning, the beetle scrambles out and finds another flower to do it all over again. This strategy has co-evolved between the beetle and magnolias, which minimizes the risk of self-pollination, which can lead to inbreeding and recessive mutations.
The Magnolia flower’s tepals and carpel speak to the primitive anatomical structures of this ancient genus, as seen in Magnolia macrophylla beautiful large flower.
Perhaps the most overlooked decorative beauty of all magnolias is their unique and highly ornamental fruits, sometimes called seed “cones,” though botanically speaking, they are not true cones. The hybrid magnolia crosses have a wide range of strange shapes and sizes; like ‘Golden Sun’ magnolia (M. ‘Golden Sun’, Zones 5–8) (above), which produces some of the lewdest-shaped cones, calling to mind specific anatomical parts. Magnolia seed cone, known as a follicetum have ripe seeds ranging in color from bright scarlet to a muted orange-red. When fully ripe, the individual seeds become suspended by a tiny thread before being dispersed to the ground and eagerly taken by birds, squirrels, and other small critters.
The ripening follicetum, (seed cone) of the Southern magnolia ‘Bracken’s Brown Beauty’.
The upside-down seed cone of Siebold’s Magnolia may be small, but it adds visual impact to the landscape.
The large and stately seed cone of the bigleaf magnolia is another stunning attribute of this prehistoric plant!
Magnolias are special to me because they were the first trees I ever planted, courtesy of the Friends of the Urban Forest organization in San Francisco. From their tree list, I selected two Southern magnolias (M. grandiflora, Zones 6–10) to plant because I knew one day they would make grand trees.
Now, twenty-five years later, my husband and I are co-directors of Hortus Arboretum and Botanical Gardens, a 21-acre level II accredited nonprofit arboretum located in a rural part of the lower Hudson Valley. Since 2001, we have planted over fifteen thousand plants, and our magnolia collection is one of our most prized ones in the gardens. Our focus is to plant as many rare, endangered, and seldomly encountered magnolias as possible.
Allyson sent over so much great information and beautiful photos of magnolias, that I’ve split her submission into two posts. Tomorrow we will continue this deep-dive into magnolias while Allyson shows us the great diversity in magnolias they have at Hortus Arboretum and Botanical Gardens.
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