Magnolia

Magnolia is a large genus of about 210 to 340 flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae of the family Magnoliaceae. The natural range of Magnolia species is disjunct, with a main center in east, south and southeast Asia and a secondary center in eastern North America, Central America, the West Indies, and some species in South America.

Magnolias are evergreen or deciduous trees or shrubs known for their large, fragrant, bowl- or star-shaped flowers with numerous spirally arranged reproductive parts, producing cone-like fruits in autumn that open to reveal seeds. The genus Magnolia was first named in 1703 by Charles Plumier, honoring Pierre Magnol, with early taxonomy refined by Linnaeus in the 18th century based on American and later Asian species. Modern molecular phylogenetic studies have revealed complex relationships leading to taxonomic debates about merging related genera like Michelia with Magnolia. Magnolia species are valued horticulturally for their early and showy flowering, used culinarily in various edible forms, employed in traditional medicine for their bioactive compounds like magnolol and honokiol, and harvested for timber, with hybridization enhancing desirable traits.

Magnolia is an ancient genus. Fossilized specimens of M. acuminata have been found dating to 20 million years ago (mya), and fossils of plants identifiably belonging to the Magnoliaceae date to 95 mya. They are theorized to have evolved to encourage pollination by beetles as they existed prior to the evolution of bees. Another aspect of Magnolia considered to represent an ancestral state is that the flower bud is enclosed in a bract rather than in sepals; the perianth parts are undifferentiated and called tepals rather than distinct sepals and petals. Magnolia shares the tepal characteristic with several other flowering plants near the base of the flowering plant lineage, such as Amborella and Nymphaea (as well as with many more recently derived plants, such as Lilium).

Magnolias are culturally significant symbols, serving as official flowers and trees in various regions like Shanghai, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Korea, and Seoul, and are closely associated with the Southern United States. In the arts, magnolias symbolize both beauty and resilience, as seen in the play and film Steel Magnolias, while also evoking the contrasting brutality of lynching in the song "Strange Fruit" and Southern stereotypes in political commentary.