Ryan Peterson (2007)
Magnolia flowers are some of the oldest flowers we have fossil records for. These unique trees date back 20 million years. Magnolias now inhabit parts of North, Central, and South America as well as the West Indies and Southeast Asia. They were common before the evolution of bees and coincidentally adapted to rely on beetles for pollination. The stiff petals of the Magnolia were designed to prevent the beetles from eating the petals during pollination. The most prevalent modern predator of the Magnolia is the Giant Leopard Moth.
There are currently about 80 different species of Magnolia trees that can be found. The Magnolia on campus located in front of Sigma Chi usually blooms around the 2-4 weeks of March. The buds begin to form during the last week of February and are very visible up until they blossom. The tree can be seen now with beautiful purplish/pink blossoms. This specific Magnolia is unique because of the exquisite growth patterns of its branches. Several of the branches have criss-crossed and grown into each other. It doesn’t appear to have affected the well-being of the tree, but does make for an interesting sight. I believe this tree is a Chinese Magnolia. It has reached its maximum height of around 30 feet. It should only take approximately 20 years for a Chinese Magnolia such as this one to reach max height.
Magnolias are also very common in the Southeastern United States. Missouri is known as “The Magnolia State” because of its abundance of Magnolias. In China and Japan, bark from the Magnolia tree, was used in ancient medicinal practices. These plants are fairly tolerant in finding a suitable habitat, but grow best were they receive full sunlight and little amounts of shade.
Magnolias are beautiful plants that require little care once they’ve been established. They can be bought at almost any local nursery. Everyone should have a chance to see these beautiful trees in bloom. Who knows, if you like them enough you might be motivated to plant one for yourself.
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