Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora)

June 2018

Beloved for its year-round foliage and gorgeous white flowers with a lemony floral scent, you know it's summertime in South Carolina when the magnolias bloom

- The name magnolia honors a French botanist, Pierre Magnol, who admired the tree so much that he transplanted it to Europe 300 years ago.

- More than 50 cultivars have been developed and named in North America and Europe, including “Bracken’s Brown Beauty,” developed by Ray Bracken of Easley, S.C.

- Species name, grandiflora, means “big flower” in Latin.

- Flowers give way to spherical cone-like fruiting clusters, which release individual rose-red coated seeds.The seeds resemble red kernels of corn and are eaten by squirrels, opossums, rabbits and birds.

- Also called bull bay, laurel magnolia, evergreen magnolia, large-flower magnolia or big laurel.

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