Flora of the Southeastern United States

Magnolia grandiflora Linnaeus. Common name: Southern Magnolia, Bull Bay, Laurel. Phenology: Apr-Jun; Sep-Oct. Habitat: Maritime forests, mesic Coastal Plain bluffs and flats, bottomlands, now also widely naturalized, spreading from cultivation into wet to mesic (and even dry) forests. Distribution: 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 and spread by birds to nearby forests. Curtis (1860) states that "the northern limit of this tree is in Brunswick County [NC], south of the Cape Fear; but it flourishes in cultivation through all the lower part of the State".

Origin/Endemic status: Endemic

Other Comments: This is, of course, the classic "southern magnolia", along with live oak (Quercus virginiana) and bald-cypress (Taxodium distichum), a totem tree of the Deep South.

Synonymy ⓘ: = Ar, C, Fl2, FNA3, GW2, K4, NS, POWO, RAB, S, Tn, Tx, Va, Frodin & Govaerts (1996), Sima & Lu (2012), Tobe (1998); = Magnolia foetida (L.) Sarg. — S13; = n/a — F, Il, Tat. Basionym: Magnolia grandiflora L. 1759

Links to other floras: = Magnolia grandiflora - FNA3

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Wetland Indicator Status:

• Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: FAC
• Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: FACU
• Great Plains: FAC

Heliophily ⓘ: 3