Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Magnoliids: Magnoliales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Magnolia acuminata var. acuminata
FAMILY
Magnoliaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
You may enjoy reading South Carolina's Native Magnolias by Richard B. Figlar.
You may also want to check Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of North Carolina
Learn more about Cucumber Magnolia and Piedmont Cucumber Magnolia from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Magnolia acuminata
FAMILY
Magnoliaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 3 (1997)
Magnolia acuminata
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 080-02-007:
Magnolia acuminata FAMILY Magnoliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Magnolia acuminata var. acuminata
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Tulipastrum acuminatum
COMMON NAME:
Cucumber Magnolia, Cucumber-tree
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
Trees You Want to Know (Peattie, 1934); illustration by F.A. Michaux dcp34_p33a
)
Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905) mtna_i_376
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_maac_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm0402c_09
February Rutherford County NC
Chimney Rock Park
Terminal bud grayish, with silky hairs, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_magnolia_acuminata
March
)
JK Marlow jkm200418_3914
April Greenville County SC
Ashmore Heritage Preserve
)
)
JK Marlow jkm120517_125
May Yancey County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Leaves lacking auriculate base & spaced along twig (not crowded terminally), per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
COMPARE
leaves of Magnolia species
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_magnolia_acuminata_2
May
)
Will Stuart wil_9023183721_53de1d8216
May Madison County NC
Slightly fragrant, yellowish-green, 2-4" long flowers, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011).
)
Will Stuart wil_9136212103_30c64d58e2
May Madison County NC
It attains a much greater stature than any other magnolia, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
JK Marlow jkm100618_046
June Cherokee County NC
)
JK Marlow jkm080729_094
July Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
Buds white-silky, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).
)
JK Marlow jkm080729_097
July Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_m_acuminata_3
July Towns-Union Counties GA
Brasstown Bald
)
JK Marlow jkm0508d_22
August Transylvania County NC
Bark gray-brown, furrowed into scaly ridges, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
JK Marlow jkm230907_5400
September Greenville County SC
Greenville Watershed
)
JK Marlow jkm230907_5401
September Greenville County SC
Greenville Watershed
)
JK Marlow jkm181104_5596
November Oconee County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm201107_8070
November Greenville County SC
Caesars Head State Park
)
JK Marlow jkm201107_8071
November Greenville County SC
Caesars Head State Park
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Magnolia acuminata var. acuminata
FAMILY
Magnoliaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Magnolia acuminata
FAMILY
Magnoliaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 3
Magnolia acuminata
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 080-02-007:
Magnolia acuminata
FAMILY
Magnoliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Magnolia acuminata var. acuminata
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Tulipastrum acuminatum
894
Tree
Perennial
Habitat: Mesic to subxeric forests, especially (but by no means strictly) over mafic or calcareous rocks, up to at least 1550m (where growing with Betula alleghaniensis, Abies fraseri, Picea rubens, and Sorbus americana), ultramafic outcrop barrens (where codominant with Pinus rigida and Quercus alba), per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in Mountains (rare in Piedmont)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Deciduous
Simple
Alternate
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Greenish, yellowish-green
Radially symmetrical
3 sepals
6-12 petals
Numerous stamens
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer
Aggregate of follicles
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p046
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p297
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p048
- Identifying Trees: An All-Season Guide to Eastern North America (Williams, 2007) p248
- Landscaping with Native Trees (Sternberg & Wilson, 1995) p147
- Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007) p235
- Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988) p107
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance) p32
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p243
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p208
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".