2651.000 Magnolia Plum. ex L.

Deciduous or evergreen trees or shrubs. Leaves: lamina not lobed; margin entire; apex obtuse or acute to acuminate. Flowers terminal or axillary, appearing with or before the leaves; tepals 9-21; outermost tepals sepal-like, sometimes strongly reflexed, greenish; inner petaloid, usually creamy-white. Fruit consisting of persistent follicles, forming cone-like aggregates. Seeds with red, pink or orange oily aril, for a time suspended on thread-like strings.

Derivation of name: for Pierre Magnol (1638-1715), French physician and botanist.

Worldwide: 339 species in temperate and tropical regions, Western hemisphere, Asia.

Zimbabwe: 6 cultivated taxa.