Star Magnolia

(Magnoliaceae - Magnolia Family)

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• Form
  • large shrub or small multi-trunked ornamental tree
  • maturing slowly to 15' tall by 15' wide
  • upright oval growth habit in youth, becoming spreading and mounding with age
  • slow growth rate

• Culture
  • full sun to partial shade
  • performs best in partial sun in moist, acidic, deep soils but is quite adaptable to a wide range of soils, soil pHs, pollution, and even wet soils
  • propagated primarily by rooted stem cuttings, but occasionally grafted or germinated from seeds
  • Magnolia Family, with virtually no disease or pest problems, although sapsuckers may encircle the trunk on occasion with small holes
  • commonly available, primarily in ball and burlap but also in container form
  • Star Magnolia is somewhat sensitive to being transplanted in Autumn, and care should be taken to amend the soil, fertilize, water thoroughly, mulch adequately, and avoid Winter salt spray, to enhance survival chances during the first Winter

• Foliage
  • medium to dark green, deciduous, alternate, distinctly obovate, to 4" long
  • fall color is green to chartreuse in November

• Flowers
  • Winter floral buds are prominent and fuzzy, giving rise to showy flowers that have narrow petals and sepals (tepals) that are white (sometimes light pink or rose) and slightly fragrant, and emerge in April before the foliage
  • flowers are frequently browned or killed by early Spring frosts and freezes, and may remain attached to the plant until mid-Spring
  • may sporadically have a very few flowers open anytime from late Summer to late Autumn, but this does not affect Spring flowering

• Fruits
  • sparse aggregate fruits split open in September, but are not ornamental and seldom produced in significant quantities

• Twigs
  • gray-brown, with prominent leaf scars, exhibiting distinctive sympodial branching
  • terminal floral and vegetative buds are densely and noticeably pubescent (fuzzy), and are much larger than the lateral buds
  • stems are more dense but much thinner as compared to those of Magnolia x soulangiana (Saucer Magnolia) and other Hybrid Magnolias, and buds are not quite as large (especially the floral buds)

• Trunk
  • multitrunked, with bark that is light gray to gray-white and smooth, with the trunks sometimes allowed to remained branched to the ground, even at maturity

• ID Summary
  • leaves are distinctly obovate and alternate but somewhat clustered at the stem termini
  • the multitrunked, upright oval growth habit in youth gives way to a spreading habit with age (to 15' tall and wide), with each trunk and its branches having layered sympodial branching, forming a distinct "mound" in the outline of the tree
  • fuzzy Winter terminal buds are prominent and very distinctive on the slender gray-brown dense stems; however, the stems are more dense but are much thinner as compared to those of Magnolia x soulangiana (Saucer Magnolia) and other Hybrid Magnolias, and the buds are not quite as large (especially the floral buds)
  • white or shell pink slightly fragrant flowers occur abundantly in early Spring and have tepals that are fully reflexed, but are frequently attacked by frosts and freezes that ruin their appearance
  • trunks and branches are a smooth gray, even at maturity

• Function
  • foundation, specimen, entranceway, or Spring accent large shrub or small tree

• Texture
  • medium texture in foliage and when bare
  • thick density in foliage and when bare

• Assets
  • outstanding floral display in a frost-free early April, with flowers slightly fragrant
  • flowers at a young age
  • fuzzy Winter terminal buds
  • subtlely ornamental smooth gray bark (if limbed up into tree form)
  • can be utilized as a deciduous privacy screen near foundations due to its dense Summer foliage

• Liabilities
  • frost often kills the emerging flowers
  • hard freezes below -10 degress Fahrenheit or harsh Winter winds may actually kill the floral buds, long before they are due to emerge

• Habitat
  • zones 4 to 8
  • native to Japan

• Alternates
  • companion trees and shrubs with prominent early Spring floral displays (Chaenomeles japonica, Cornus mas, Corylopsis glabrescens, Hamamelis x intermedia, etc.)
  • ornamental shrubs with good growth habit, floral character, or sympodial branching (Corylus avellana 'Contorta', Rhododendron catawbiense, Viburnum plicatum tomentosum 'Mariesii', etc.)

• Variants
  • Magnolia stellata 'Royal Star' - a double-flowering form, with many white tepals opening slightly later than the species form
  • Magnolia stellata 'Rosea' - light pink flowers; also used as one parent in crosses made with Magnolia liliifolia 'Nigra' to yield many of the modern hybrid Magnolias, all of which flower slightly later in the Spring, mature at about 10' tall, have a rounded or upright growth habit, and purplish-red shades of flowers; they include 'Ann', 'Betty', 'Jane', 'Judy', 'Pinkie', 'Randy', 'Ricki', and 'Susan'

• Translation
  • Magnolia is named after Pierre Magnol, a 17th century French botanist.
  • stellata translates as "starlike", in reference to the flowers with their radiating starburst tepals.

• Purpose
  • Star Magnolia is a slow-growing, multitrunked shrub or small tree with white or light pink Spring flowers that arise from pubescent Winter floral buds.

• Summary
  • Magnolia stellata is an upright large shrub or small tree with layered sympodial branches that create a mounding effect with age, and white showy Spring flowers that emerge before the foliage, but are frequently browned by frosts.