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Scientific Name:
Magnolia kobus
Pronunciation:
mag-NO-lee-uh KOE-bus
Common Name:
northern Japanese magnolia
Family Name:
Magnoliaceae
Plant Type:
Tree - deciduous
Key ID Features:
Leaves to 15cm long with pointed tip and ciliate margins; flowers with 6 tepals, white with pink tinge appearing before leaves in April. Winter ID: graceful habit, usually multi-stemmed, broken twigs with strong odour; persistent or dropped irregular shaped fruit; flower buds hairy, about 2cm long; leaf buds 2-4mm long, nearly black with grey hairs.

Habit:
Dense, Spreading
Form:
Round
Texture:
Coarse
Mature Height:
7 - 10m
Mature Spread:
7 - 10m
Growth Rate:
Slow
Origin:
S.E. Asia / Japan / China (Japan)
Hardiness Rating:
Zone 5: (-29 to -23 °C)
Exposure:
Full sun, Part sun/part shade
Soil/Growing Medium:
Humus rich, Well-drained
Landscape Uses:
Attract birds, Specimen plant, Spring interest, Winter interest
Additional Info:
Google. Compare to M. stellata (once considered a variety of M. kobus).

Leaf Morphology:
Form:
Simple
Arrangement:
Alternate
Texture/Venation:
Soft flexible, Pinnate venation
Surfaces:
Pubescent
Colour in Summer:
Dark-green
Colour in Fall:
Yellow
Shapes:
Obovate
Apices:
Cuspidate
Bases:
Cuneate
Margins:
Ciliate, Entire, Undulate (wavy)
Additional Info:
to 10cm long; margins with fine hairs but undersides glabrous

Inflorescence Type:
Flowers solitary
Flower Morphology:
Flowers perfect
Number Of Petals:
6
Corolla Shape:
Rotate/stellate
Ovary Position:
Superior
Colour (petals):
Showy, White (pinkish tinge)
Flower Time at Peak:
Apr
Additional Info:
Many simple pistils

Fruit Type:
Aggregate fruit, Follicle
Fruit Colour:
Pink (scarlet coloured seeds)
Fruiting Time:
Additional Info:
Showy, 3 to 8cm long; seeds red

Bark Morphology:
Lightly fissured, Multi-stem trunk, Single stem trunk
Bark or Stem Colour:
Grey, Brown
Additional Info:
Strong odour to broken twigs.
Leaf Bud Type:
Ovoid
Leaf Scar Shape:
Crescent shaped
Propagation:
Seed, Cuttings
Pest Susceptibility:
Scale insects (Pest resistant, Disease resistant)

Course(s):
  • HORT 2355
Location(s):
  • (TFL)  Turf Field Lab
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