Umbrella Magnolia (Magnolia tripetala)

Magnolia Family (Magnoliaceae)
Umbrella magnolia is a multi-stemmed (sometimes) deciduous small tree, reaching 15-30 feet tall usually. The stems are stout, smooth, and ash-gray. Buds are large and brownish purple, often with a white bloom and sometimes curved. Clustered at the branch tips and spreading like an umbrella, the obovate leaves are shiny, large (reaching 1-2 feet long), and without basal lobes. They are lime green above and paler below and turning yellow to brown in the fall. It has large, unpleasantly-scented, creamy white flowers from April to June. Flowers are pollinated by beetles. The pinkish red fruit is a cone-like aggregate which has pink to red seeds. Found in rich, moist, well-drained soils of hardwood forests, mixed hardwood forests, and along creeks mostly in the southeastern United States, mostly in the Appalachian Mountains region. The light-colored wood is soft and weak. Also known as umbrella-tree.

Listed as endangered in FL & IN; and rare in PA.


Copyright Brett Miley