Magnolia sinica (Y.W. Law) Noot.

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Credits

Julian Sutton (2022)

Recommended citation
Sutton, J. (2022), 'Magnolia sinica' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/magnolia/magnolia-sinica/). Accessed 2022-11-28.

Genus

Magnolia
Section Gynopodium

Synonyms

Manglietiastrum sinicum Y.W. Law
Manglietia sinica (Y.W. Law) B.L. Chen & Noot.
Pachylarnax sinica (Y.W. Law) N.H. Xia & C.Y. Wu

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

IUCN: World Conservation Union (formerly the International Union for the Conservation of Nature).
section: (sect.) Subdivision of a genus.
carpel: Female reproductive organ of a flower. Composed of ovary style and stigma. Typically several carpels are fused together in each flower (syncarpous). The number of them can be of taxonomic significance; it can often be assessed by counting the stigma branches or the chambers in the fruit.
fastigiate: (of a tree or shrub) Narrow in form with ascending branches held more or less parallel to the trunk.
flush: Coordinated growth of leaves or flowers. Such new growth is often a different colour to mature foliage.
gynoecium: The female sex organs in a flower (e.g. carpels).

References

Credits

Julian Sutton (2022)

Recommended citation
Sutton, J. (2022), 'Magnolia sinica' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/magnolia/magnolia-sinica/). Accessed 2022-11-28.

The critically endangered Magnolia sinica flowering in Yunnan (18th March 2013). Image Sun Weibang.

Tree to 40 m, 1.2 m dbh. Bark grey and longitudinally fissured. Branchlets dark green to brown and glabrous. Leaves evergreen, leathery, 15–26(–30) × 5–8(–9.5) cm, narrowly obovate, upper surface glossy green and glabrous, lower surface pale green and glabrous, 13–16 secondary veins on each side of the midrib, margins entire and slightly revolute, apex short-acuminate; petiole 1.5–2 cm long, glabrous and slightly thickened at the base; stipules free from the petiole. Flowers solitary and terminal, fragrant; tepals 9, outer three oblong to spathulate, deep red outside and reddish pink inside, inner tepals obovate to spathulate, white and smaller than outer tepals; stamens cream to red; gynoecium sessile with 13–16 carpels. Fruits 5–8.5 cm long, obovoid to ellipsoid and green to brown; ripe carpels thick and woody, lenticellate, oblong to elliptic and 2.5–4 cm long, opening along the ventral suture and splitting at the apex. Flowering late April, fruiting October to November (China). Diploid 2n=38. (Chen & Nooteboom 1993; Liu et al. 2004).

Distribution China SE Yunnan

Habitat Evergreen broadleaved forest, 1300–1550 m.

USDA Hardiness Zone 9-10

RHS Hardiness Rating H3

Conservation status Critically endangered (CR)

Given the extreme rarity of Magnolia sinica in the wild (about 50 mature individuals at a single site – IUCN 2021) it is good to know that it is in cultivation both in and outside China. In many ways this evergreen tree, magnificent in the wild, resembles members of Section Manglietia in general habit, as well as its terminal flowers with 9 tepals and more than 2 ovules per carpel (Chen & Nooteboom 1993). However, several features including the absence of stipular scars on the petioles, and the shortly stalked gynoecium do not fit the pattern, and it is no longer thought to be closely related to the manglietias. Propagation efforts led by Prof. Sun Weibang at Kunming Botanical Garden with the aim of reintroduction, have been successful to the extent that Rivers et al. (2016) could report over 5,000 saplings in their nurseries.

Seed was obtained from Xichou Co., Yunnan by the University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley in 1995, and from this introduction plants have been distributed to other collections, as well as being grown at Berkeley, where it was still recorded as alive in 2021 (University of California Botanical Garden 2021). At Quarryhill, a specimen from this source had achieved 4 m by 2004. It looks like a fastigiate Cherry Laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) or perhaps a narrow-leaved Magnolia grandiflora, with the difference that the new leaves flush a handsome bronzy red. The leaves of the Quarryhill individual were somewhat sunburnt on the southwestern side when observed by John Grimshaw for New Trees, indicating that some shade would be advisable.

In Europe, Tom Hudson has a single plant growing at Tregrehan; now 2 m tall, it has not flowered (pers. comm. 2022).

Magnolia sinica has narrow evergreen leaves, bronze-tinted on emergence (Quarryhill Botanical Garden, CA; 31st June 2010). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

Young leaves of Magnolia sinica flush bronze-red (Tregrehan, 30th April 2022). Image Tom Hudson.

Foliage on Magnolia sinica at Botanic Treasures – Raf Lenaerts, Belgium (28 August 2018). Image Jan De Langhe.

Leaves on Magnolia sinica, the lamina narrowly obovate (Botanic Treasures – Raf Lenaerts, Belgium – 28 August 2018). Image Jan De Langhe.

Glabrous bud and young growth on Magnolia sinica (Botanic Treasures – Raf Lenaerts, Belgium – 28 August 2018). Image Jan De Langhe.

Petioles, lacking stipular scars on Magnolia sinica (Botanic Treasures – Raf Lenaerts, Belgium – 28 August 2018). Image Jan De Langhe.

A mature wild specimen of Magnolia sinica. The scaffold allows researchers access to the canopy for study and to collect seed for ex situ propagation (12th March 2014). Image Sun Weibang.

Magnolia sinica at Kunming Botanical Garden (12th April 2007). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

Magnolia sinica, exceedingly rare both in the wild and in gardens (Quarryhill Botanical Garden, CA; 31st June 2010). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

Propagation of Magnolia sinica for return to the wild, at Kunming Botanical Garden (12th April 2007). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.