Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Magnoliids: Magnoliales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Magnolia tripetala
FAMILY
Magnoliaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
You may enjoy reading South Carolina's Native Magnolias by Richard B. Figlar.
You may also want to check Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of North Carolina
Learn more about Magnolia from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Magnolia tripetala
FAMILY
Magnoliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 3 (1997)
Magnolia tripetala
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 080-02-006:
Magnolia tripetala FAMILY Magnoliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Magnolia tripetala
COMMON NAME:
Umbrella Magnolia, Umbrella-tree
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905) mtna_i_380
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_matr_001_lvd
)
Alan S. Weakley asw_3432549040344308
April Orange County NC
North Carolina Botanical Garden
)
JK Marlow jkm140417_021
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Twigs strike out at right angles from a branch, then turn parallel to it, per Trees Worth Knowing (Rogers, 1924).
)
JK Marlow jkm140417_989
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Terminal buds long, purplish, glabrous, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).
)
JK Marlow jkm140417_993
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Twigs stout, light brown, slightly fluted at areas of clustered leaf scars, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_m_tripetala_umb
April Fulton County GA
Atlanta History Center
Flowers large, white, with an unpleasant musty odor, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).
)
Dan Whitten sdw_magnolia1
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
Dan Whitten sdw_magnoliatripetala
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
JK Marlow jkm0505k_09
May Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
The shape of the leaf forms a "V" at the base, per Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962).
)
JK Marlow jkm120523_258
May Graham County NC
Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm160506_619
May Jackson County NC
High Hampton Inn
)
JK Marlow jkm160506_625
May Jackson County NC
High Hampton Inn
)
JK Marlow jkm140816_680
August Jackson County NC
High Hampton Inn
)
JK Marlow jkm150827_880
August Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
)
JK Marlow jkm150827_882
August Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
Fruits conelike, 6-15cm long, an aggregate of leathery follicles, per Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988).
COMPARE
fruits that are an aggregate of follicles
)
JK Marlow jkm150827_883
August Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_magnolia_tripetala_6
August
Resembling M. fraseri, but its much larger leaves are tapered at the base, per South Carolina's Native Magnolias (Figlar, 2007).
COMPARE
leaves of Magnolia species
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_magnolia_tripetala_9
August
)
JK Marlow jkm190913_1402
September Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_m_tripetala_cc_9
September
Cloudland Canyon State Park
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmmmacrophylla_tripetal
Month Unknown
On left M. tripetala, on right M. macrophylla.
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmmtripetala_abbeville
Month Unknown Abbeville County SC
False whorls of leaves at branch tips impart an umbrella-like appearance, per South Carolina's Native Magnolias (Figlar, 2007).
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmmtripetala_wl1
Month Unknown
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Magnolia tripetala
FAMILY
Magnoliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Magnolia tripetala
FAMILY
Magnoliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 3
Magnolia tripetala
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 080-02-006:
Magnolia tripetala
FAMILY
Magnoliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Magnolia tripetala
900
Tree
Perennial
Habitat: Mesic forests, ravines, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in Piedmont & GA Mountains (rare in GA Coastal Plain) (uncommon elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Deciduous
Simple
Alternate, crowded at branch tips & appearing whorled ("umbrella-like")
FLOWER:
Spring
White
Radially symmetrical
3 sepals
6-12 petals
Numerous stamens
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Aggregate of follicles
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p068
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p299
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p048
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p230
- Identifying Trees: An All-Season Guide to Eastern North America (Williams, 2007) p256
- Landscaping with Native Trees (Sternberg & Wilson, 1995) p148
- Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007) p240
- Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988) p107
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p085
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance) p32
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p208
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