Magnolia, Umbrella Tree

Magnolia tripetala, commonly called Umbrella magnolia or simply Umbrella-tree, is a deciduous tree native to the southeastern United States in the Appalachian Mountains region. The Umbrella Magnolias have large leaves, very large flowers, and a broad, open crown of spreading branches; often with sprouts at base. The leaves of this 15-45 ft. perennial deciduous magnolia are clustered at the end of stems to resemble an umbrella. Individual leaves are 10-24 in. in length. The showy flowers are 6-8 in. in diameter and creamy-white in color. Their petals are thin and less symmetrical than those of other magnolias. The flowers are followed by cone-shaped, rosy-red fruits.

The leaves are 8-16″ long, and usually widest nearer the tip. There are no earlike lobes at the base of the leaf as there are in Fraser magnolia and pyramid magnolia which are otherwise rather similar. The leaves are clustered and spread out from the branch tips like an umbrella. The leaves turn yellow in the autumn. Looking upward at the leaves and branches, the leaves look like the spokes of an umbrella, which gives the Umbrella tree its common name.

The flowers are large, 3-6 in diameter, with six to nine creamy-white petals and a large red style, which later develops into a red fruit 4 in long, containing several red seeds. All magnolias have perfect flowers (male and female parts are both present). Umbrella magnolia flowers are bowl shaped, pale yellow to cream colored, 6-10″ across with 9-12 perianth segments (petal-like structures). They have a disagreeable odor up close, but seem pleasantly fragrant from a distance. The fruit is a rose-colored 4-6″ cone-like aggregate of fleshy two-seeded red follicles. At maturity, the red seeds hang from the “cone” by fragile threadlike filaments. The flowers open after the leaves, typically in April, May and June, and the fruits ripen in August and September.

Like that of most other Magnolias, the bark is grey and smooth, except for scattered lenticels (corky warts). The light-colored wood is soft and weak.

The magnolias are among the most ancient of the flowering plants, with a fossil record dating back more than 100 million years. Some are evergreen (southern magnolia, M. grandiflora, for example) and others are deciduous. North American deciduous magnolias bloom after the leaves come out; many of the Asian species bloom in early spring on naked twigs (star magnolia, M. stellata, for example.) Magnolia flowers are pollinated by beetles.