NC Native Plant Society:
Plant Details

Magnolia grandiflora

Southern Magnolia, Bull Bay

Scientific Name:	Magnolia grandiflora
Genus:	Magnolia
Species Epithet:	grandiflora
Common Name:	Southern Magnolia, Bull Bay
Plant Type	Tree
Life Cycle	Perennial
Plant Family	Magnoliaceae (Magnolia Family)
Native/Alien:	NC Native
Size:	72-100 ft.
Bloom Color(s):	White
Light:	Sun - 6 or more hours of sun per day, Part Shade - 2 to 6 hours of sun per day
Soil Moisture:	Dry, Moist
Bloom Time:	May, June
Growing Area:	Piedmont, Sandhills, Coastal Plain
Habitat Description:	“Maritime forests, mesic Coastal Plain bluffs and flats,bottomlands, now also widely naturalized, spreading from cultivation into wet to mesic forests. The pre-Columbian range was apparently from se. NC south to c. peninsular FL, west to e. TX, largely on the Coastal Plain, now somewhat expanded northward and inland by naturalization from centuries of horticultural planting. Curtis (1860) states that “the northern limit of this tree is in Brunswick County, south of the Cape Fear; but it flourishes in cultivation through all the lower part of the State.” (Weakley 2015). Rare native in the NC Coastal Plain, rare escape from cultivation in the NC Piedmont and Sandhills. “Bull Bay is native in the Sandhills of southern SC and GA but found in the NC Sandhills only as a result of bird-dispersed seeds from cultivated trees” (Sorrie 2011).
Leaf Arrangement:	Alternate
Leaf Retention:	Evergreen
Leaf Type:	Leaves veined, not needle-like or scale-like
Leaf Form:	Simple
Life Cycle:	Perennial
Wildlife Value:	Has some wildlife value
Landscape Value:	Highly Recommended and Available
State Rank:	S?: Uncertain ^(*Key)
Global Rank:	G5 - Secure ^(*Key)
State Status:	W1: Watch List: Rare but Relatively Secure ^(*Key)
Notes:	NC Natural Heritage Program NC Rank: S2?
Flower Magnolias are an ancient genus with a "primitive" arrangement of flower parts. The white tepals are lowermost, held open in a bowl-shape. Above them on a cone-like structure are whorls of stamen with the carpels at the top. This structure has been thought to be beetle-pollinated. Paynter, Wilmington, June 2013
Flower Close-up The curly stigma (female parts) at the top with the stamen (male parts) below Paynter, Wilmington, May 2014
Nectar drops on stigma Despite the accepted thinking that beetles are the main pollinators of Southern Magnolia, research by Larry Allain suggests that Southern Magnolias and bees, especially honeybees and some Sweat Bees, interact to pollinate the trees. When a flower first open, UV patterns, fragrance and nectar attract bees to the reflexed stigma.
Same flower, next day, showing pollen. On the second day, the production of nectar stops and the anthers produce large amounts of pollen that fall into the petals, attracting bees and beetles. The flowers will stay open for 1 or 2 more days, gradually losing fragrance, UV reflectivity and pollen viability. Note the pollen that now adheres to the stigma above, likely the result of cross-pollination the day before.
Fruit with dangling red seeds
Close-up of expanded terminal bud in mid-April Garden in Orange County, NC Bettina Darveaux
The evergreen leaves are very thick and elliptical in shape. New Hanover County, NC Bettina Darveaux
Links:	USDA PLANTS Database Record