Magnolia
(Magnolia grandiflora)
Adopted in 1900.
The state flower of Louisiana
is the magnolia, Magnolia
grandiflora. It was adopted
in 1900. Southern magnolia
(Magnolia grandiflora), also
called evergreen magnolia,
bull-bay, big-laurel, or
large-flower magnolia, has large
fragrant white flowers and
evergreen leaves that make it
one of the most splendid of
forest trees and a very popular
ornamental that has been planted
around the world.
Louisiana Legislature
Archives
§154. State flower
The magnolia shall be
the state flower of the
State of Louisiana.
Magnolias commonly grown in
the United States are of two
kinds - native and Asian. Native
magnolias bloom from late spring
to summer and have white,
yellowish, or green flowers.
Asian magnolias bloom in early
to late spring andhave white,
pink, or reddish-purple to
purple flowers. Native magnolias
are evergreen or deciduous (leaf
shedding); Asian magnolias grown
in cultivation are deciduous.
- Size: - 60 to 80
feet in height with a spread
of about 30 to 50 feet.
There are numerous
cultivars, and there can be
variation between seedlings.
Grows at about a medium rate
with a pyramidal habit.
Generally branched to the
ground and best left this
way since growing anything
under them is futile.
- Leaf: Alternate,
simple, pinnately veined and
evergreen, 5 to 8 inches
long, oval in shape with an
entire margin. Very
waxy/shiny above, and
reddish tomentose below.
- Flower: Creamy
white, sweet lemony
fragrance, 6" to 12" in
diameter. Flowering begins
in late May-early June and
continues sporadically all
summer. Trees grown from
seed generally start
flowering within 10 years.
Fruit is a pinkish red
aggregate of folicles about
5" in length, splitting open
in the late summer to expose
the dark red seeds.
- Fruit: An
aggregate of follicles,
green changing to red,
cylindrical, 3 to 5 inches
long with red seeds, 1/2
inch long. Maturing October
to November.
- Twig: Stout, with
white to rusty tomentum and
a long (1 to 1 1/2 inches)
silky white to rusty red
terminal bud.
- Bark: Brown to
gray, thin, smooth/lenticellate
when young, later with close
plates or scales.
- Form: A
medium-sized tree with a
pyramidal crown. When open
grown, the crown is dense
with low branches.
Taxonomic Hierarchy
|
Kingdom |
Plantae --
Plants |
Subkingdom |
Tracheobionta --
Vascular plants |
Superdivision |
Spermatophyta --
Seed plants |
Division |
Magnoliophyta --
Flowering plants |
Class |
Magnoliopsida --
Dicotyledons |
Subclass |
Magnoliidae – |
Order |
Magnoliales – |
Family |
Magnoliaceae –
Magnolia family |
Genus |
Magnolia L. –
magnolia |
Species |
Magnolia
grandiflora L. –
southern magnolia |
|