OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

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



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.

image of Magnolia virginiana +, Sweetbay, Sweetbay Magnolia, Swampbay

JK Marlow    jkm191222_2370_m_virginia

    Clay County    AL

Cheaha State Park

image of Magnolia virginiana +, Sweetbay, Sweetbay Magnolia, Swampbay

Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905)    mtna_i_379

        

image of Magnolia virginiana +, Sweetbay, Sweetbay Magnolia, Swampbay

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_mavi2_001_lvd

        

image of Magnolia virginiana +, Sweetbay, Sweetbay Magnolia, Swampbay

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide    pnd_mavi2_010_lvd

        

image of Magnolia virginiana +, Sweetbay, Sweetbay Magnolia, Swampbay

JK Marlow    jkm110417_028

April    Cleburne County    AL

Mount Cheaha

Sweetbay Magnolia on the left, Bayberry on the right.

image of Magnolia virginiana +, Sweetbay, Sweetbay Magnolia, Swampbay

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).

image of Magnolia virginiana +, Sweetbay, Sweetbay Magnolia, Swampbay

Keith Bradley    kab_m_virginiana_0384

April    Richland County    SC

image of Magnolia virginiana +, Sweetbay, Sweetbay Magnolia, Swampbay

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).

image of Magnolia virginiana +, Sweetbay, Sweetbay Magnolia, Swampbay

Gill Newberry    gn05_magnolia_virginiana

May        

image of Magnolia virginiana +, Sweetbay, Sweetbay Magnolia, Swampbay

JK Marlow    jkm0505t_37

May    Williamsburg County    SC

image of Magnolia virginiana +, Sweetbay, Sweetbay Magnolia, Swampbay

JK Marlow    jkm0505u_01

May    Williamsburg County    SC

image of Magnolia virginiana +, Sweetbay, Sweetbay Magnolia, Swampbay

JK Marlow    jkm0505u_22

May    Williamsburg County    SC

image of Magnolia virginiana +, Sweetbay, Sweetbay Magnolia, Swampbay

Patrick D. McMillan    pdmmvirginiana_fb1

May        

image of Magnolia virginiana +, Sweetbay, Sweetbay Magnolia, Swampbay

Patrick D. McMillan    pdmmvirginiana_steed

May    Berkeley County    SC

Francis Marion National Forest

image of Magnolia virginiana +, Sweetbay, Sweetbay Magnolia, Swampbay

Sam Pratt    sbp052621_0529

May    Spartanburg County    SC

in cultivation

image of Magnolia virginiana +, Sweetbay, Sweetbay Magnolia, Swampbay

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).


click here to see other plants that look similar to this COMPARE fruits that are an aggregate of follicles

image of Magnolia virginiana +, Sweetbay, Sweetbay Magnolia, Swampbay

Will Stuart    wil_9473216572_e9e55b2ea9

August    Chesterfield County    SC

Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge

image of Magnolia virginiana +, Sweetbay, Sweetbay Magnolia, Swampbay

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).


click here to see other plants that look similar to this COMPARE leaves of Magnolia species

image of Magnolia virginiana +, Sweetbay, Sweetbay Magnolia, Swampbay

Paul Thompson    pstmagnolia_virginiana

September?        

Leaf undersides are glaucous. Stipule scars encircle twigs. — Clemson Extension

image of Magnolia virginiana +, Sweetbay, Sweetbay Magnolia, Swampbay

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

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

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

map
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!



 


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