Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Magnoliids: Magnoliales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Magnolia virginiana +
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
Very few species have leaves with such a distinct contrast between dark green above and white below. Learn more at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Magnolia virginiana
FAMILY
Magnoliaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 3 (1997)
Magnolia virginiana
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 080-02-001:
Magnolia virginiana FAMILY Magnoliaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Magnolia virginiana
COMMON NAME:
Sweetbay, Sweetbay Magnolia, Swampbay
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
JK Marlow jkm191222_2370_m_virginia
Clay County AL
Cheaha State Park
)
Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905) mtna_i_379
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_mavi2_001_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide pnd_mavi2_010_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm110417_028
April Cleburne County AL
Mount Cheaha
Sweetbay Magnolia on the left, Bayberry on the right.
)
JK Marlow jkm110417_948
April Cleburne County AL
Mount Cheaha
Blades thin, leathery, narrowing toward both ends, silvery pubescent below, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
Keith Bradley kab_m_virginiana_0384
April Richland County SC
)
Gill Newberry gn05_m_virginiana_flower
May
The creamy white, fragrant bloom is about 3-6" across. Spring, early summer, per Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002).
)
Gill Newberry gn05_magnolia_virginiana
May
)
JK Marlow jkm0505t_37
May Williamsburg County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm0505u_01
May Williamsburg County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm0505u_22
May Williamsburg County SC
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmmvirginiana_fb1
May
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmmvirginiana_steed
May Berkeley County SC
Francis Marion National Forest
)
Sam Pratt sbp052621_0529
May Spartanburg County SC
in cultivation
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmmvirginiana_fruitcp3
July Barnwell County SC
Fruit a cone-like aggregate of dark red, ellipsoid follicles, about 2" long, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
COMPARE
fruits that are an aggregate of follicles
)
Will Stuart wil_9473216572_e9e55b2ea9
August Chesterfield County SC
Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge
)
JK Marlow s060909_de
September Greenville County SC
SC Native Plant Society Plant Sale
Leaves whitened below, 4-6" long, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).
COMPARE
leaves of Magnolia species
)
Paul Thompson pstmagnolia_virginiana
September?
Leaf undersides are glaucous. Stipule scars encircle twigs. — Clemson Extension
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmm_virginiana
Month Unknown
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Magnolia virginiana +
FAMILY
Magnoliaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Magnolia virginiana
FAMILY
Magnoliaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 3
Magnolia virginiana
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 080-02-001:
Magnolia virginiana
FAMILY
Magnoliaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Magnolia virginiana
901
Shrub; Tree
Perennial
Look for it in pocosins, bay forests, & swamps in Coastal Plain, streamhead pocosins, swamps, & sandhill seeps in the Sandhills, bogs & peaty swamps in Piedmont (& Mountains, in the case of var. australis), per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Exact distributions need more study, but one variety or the other may be common in Coastal Plain; both are rare elsewhere
Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)
LEAVES:
Evergreen or Semi-evergreen
Simple
Alternate
Margins entire
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
White
Radially symmetrical
3 sepals
6-12 petals
Numerous stamens
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
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
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p308
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p415
- Identifying Trees: An All-Season Guide to Eastern North America (Williams, 2007) p254
- Landscaping with Native Trees (Sternberg & Wilson, 1995) p152
- Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants p035
- Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast (Foote & Jones, 1989) p060
- Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007) p241
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p396
- Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988) p106
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p117
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p084
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance) p32
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p206
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p167
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".