Magnolia sprengeri
Species of flowering plant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Magnolia sprengeri, or Sprenger's magnolia, is a species of Magnolia native to China, occurring in Gansu, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, and Sichuan in forests or thickets at 1300–2400 m elevation. Named for Carl Ludwig Sprenger, a botanist of note.[citation needed]
| Sprenger's magnolia | |
|---|---|
| |
| Magnolia sprengeri flowering in the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Embryophytes |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Magnoliids |
| Order: | Magnoliales |
| Family: | Magnoliaceae |
| Genus: | Magnolia |
| Subgenus: | Magnolia subg. Yulania |
| Section: | Magnolia sect. Yulania |
| Subsection: | Magnolia subsect. Yulania |
| Species: | M. sprengeri |
| Binomial name | |
| Magnolia sprengeri | |
Description
It is a small deciduous tree, to 20 m in height with pale grayish brown to blackish brown, exfoliating bark. Young twigs are pale yellowish brown. The dark green leaves are obovate, 10–18 cm long and 4.5–10 cm broad, with a 1–3 cm petiole. Fragrant flowers appear before leaves, erect, cup-shaped, 15 cm wide, with 12-14 tepals that are white to rosy-red. The fruit is a cylindric aggregate of follicles 6–18 cm long.[citation needed]
Fossil record
Fossils of Magnolia sprengeri have been described from the fossil flora of Kızılcahamam district in Turkey, which is of early Pliocene age.[2]
Cultivation
It is grown as an ornamental tree for its flowers. Several cultivars have been named, including 'Diva', 'Lanhydrock', and 'Wakehurst'. The cultivars 'Burncoose',[3] 'Copeland Court',[4] and 'Eric Savill'[5] have all won the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
The species and its cultivars are hardy to roughly USDA hardiness zone 6. A number of hybrids with other Magnolias have also been developed.[citation needed]
Gallery
'Diva' Bud
'Diva' Flower
Trunk bark with woodpecker holes
M. sprengeri flower, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, accession #228-2005*A.
