Magnolias

Magnolia is a large genus in the subfamily Magnolioideae of the family Magnoliaceae. It is named after French botanist Pierre Magnol.

The Magnoliaceae is a family in the flowering plant order Magnoliales, the members are of exceptional evolutionary interest displaying
characterstics that are considered evolutionarily primitive. E.g. the flower parts are arranged in spirals rather than in rings, unlike
most other flowering plants, and the sepals and petals are not so clearly differentiated as in most other angiosperms; (because of having undifferentiated flower parts the term "tepals" was coined).

Some two thirds of species are distributed in Asia, from southern and eastern India, Sri Lanka, Indochina, Malaysia, China, Korea and Japan, reaching as far south as New Guinea. The remaining species are found in eastern North America, Mexico and Central America and the West Indies, reaching a southern limit in Brazil (Azuma et al., 2001)

So Magnolia is an ancient genus - fossilised specimens of Magnolia acuminata have been found dating to 20 million years ago, and of plants identifiably belonging to the Magnoliaceae dating to 95 million years ago! The monophyly of Magnoliaceae is supported by a number of shared morphological characters among the various genera included in the family.

- Most have flowers that are bisexual (with the exception of Kmeria and some species of Magnolia section Gynopodium), showy, fragrant, radial, and with an elongate receptacle. Leaves are alternate, simple, and sometimes lobed.

- The inflorescence is a solitary, showy flower with indistinguishable petals and sepals.

- Sepals range from six to many; stamens are numerous and feature short filaments which are poorly differentiated from the anthers.

- Carpels are usually numerous, distinct, and on an elongate receptacle or torus - and are especially thick to avoid damage by beetles that land, crawl, and feast on them ... the flowers are beetle pollinated.

- The fruit is an etario of follicles which usually become closely appressed as they mature and open along the abaxial surface.

- Seeds have a fleshy coat and color that ranges from red to orange (except Liriodendron) and are bird dispersed.

There are just under around 250 species of Magnolia and their conservation status is as follows:

Number of Magnoliaceae taxa
Extinct 0
Critically Endangered 31
Endangered 58
Vulnerable 23
Near Threatened 9
Data Deficient 10
Least Concern 20
Not Evaluated 94