Southern Magnolia

Until last year, I thought the southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) was the only kind of magnolia tree. (I'm from the D.C. area.) I've since discovered the saucer magnolia, the bigleaf magnolia, and the cucumber magnolia, among other species, but the southern magnolia is especially dear to me. It's native to the southeastern United States. So far, they seem to be doing well up here too. (Okay, the growth isn't quite as vigorous as it would be down south.) If you haven't noticed a southern magnolia in winter, the waxy coating on the leaves might give you a hint that it's evergreen. Right now the southern magnolias are blooming. The flowers give off a strong citrusy fragrance.

Inside this flower, there were at least three honey bees. Here, a forager is heading back to the hive. Check out the pollen on her legs.

All of our southern magnolias are relatively young. You can find most of them in the south section near Fort Hamilton Parkway.

Saucer Magnolia

These buds have been getting bigger over the past couple of weeks, shedding layers in the process.

Last week I saw a handful of buds like this on each tree.

Now there are too many to count. Some buds even have little hairy leaves peeking out.

Foliage doesn't usually emerge until after full bloom, but the occasional renegade adds a refreshing bit of green to all the fuschia.

Tulip Tree (and a sign of spring)

Today I stopped to take a look at what was left of the tulip tree fruit.

The fruit, green in the summer and brown in the fall, is a cone-like aggregate of winged seeds (samaras). The samaras fall off (from top to bottom) throughout the winter.

I noticed the buds and was looking at their curious duck-bill shape when I saw that one had popped open on the side.

I helped it along and inside I saw a perfectly shaped miniature leaf folded in half neatly along the midrib. Other buds had started to open as well.

Here's a photo of a mature leaf from last summer (this leaf is two-lobed but leaves can also have four lobes),

and a tulip tree leafed out.

The bark is deeply furrowed on mature trees.

The tulip tree is one of the tallest species in the cemetery, known to reach a height of 190 feet.

Liriodendron tulipifera is sometimes called yellow poplar although it's not related to poplars. It's actually in the Magnolia family.

Saucer Magnolia

Here's a saucer magnolia after Tuesday night's snowfall.

When it's leafed out, it looks like a giant shrub. Now that the leaves are gone, you can see that it's multi-stemmed.

The large hirsute (fuzzy) floral buds give this tree an interesting winter texture. You can see the crescent-shaped leaf scars directly below the buds.

Here is an infructescence from last summer minus the red seeds. Most of these empty fruiting bodies have fallen to the ground by now.

The saucer magnolia is one of the earliest blooming trees in the spring (which unfortunately makes the flowers susceptible to frost damage). The pink or purple and white flowers emerge before the leaves. The saucer magnolia was hybridized around 1820 by Etienne Soulange-Bodin, a French horticulturist. Hundreds of varieties of this hybrid exist today.

Saucer Magnolia

Magnolia x soulangiana is a hybrid of Magnolia liliiflora and Magnolia denudata. This magnolia is covered with fuzzy buds,

a couple of these deep pink flowers,

and lots of giant green aggregate fruits. This fruit is about 5 inches long.

The tree is multi-stemmed, so it looks like a giant shrub.