Index of Species Information
SPECIES: Magnolia grandiflora
Introductory
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Coladonato, Milo. 1991. Magnolia grandiflora. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online].
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station,
Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/tree/maggra/all.html [].
ABBREVIATION :
MAGGRA
SYNONYMS :
NO-ENTRY
SCS PLANT CODE :
MAGR4
COMMON NAMES :
southern magnolia
evergreen magnolia
bull-bay
big-laurel
large-flower magnolia
TAXONOMY :
The currently accepted scientific name for southern magnolia is Magnolia
grandiflora L. [19]. The genus Magnolia consists of 35 species of
deciduous or evergreen trees or shrubs in North and Central America,
eastern Asia and the Himalayas; nine species are native to the United
States [23].
LIFE FORM :
Tree
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Magnolia grandiflora
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
The range of southern magnolia extends from North Carolina along the
Atlantic Coast to central Florida, westward through the southern half of
Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, and across Louisiana into eastern
Texas [2,24]. It is cultivated in Hawaii [32].
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES12 Longleaf - slash pine
FRES13 Loblolly - shortleaf pine
FRES14 Oak - pine
FRES15 Oak - hickory
FRES16 Oak - gum - cypress
STATES :
AL FL GA HI LA MS NC SC TX
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
NO-ENTRY
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K089 Black Belt
K090 Live oak - sea oats
K091 Cypress savanna
K111 Oak - hickory - pine forest
K112 Southern mixed forest
K113 Southern floodplain forest
K114 Pocosin
K115 Sand pine scrub
SAF COVER TYPES :
69 Sand pine
70 Longleaf pine
71 Longleaf pine - scrub oak
72 Southern scrub oak
73 Southern redcedar
74 Cabbage palmetto
75 Shortleaf pine
76 Shortleaf pine oak
80 Loblolly pine - shortleaf pine
81 Loblolly pine
82 Loblolly pine - hardwood
83 Longleaf pine - slash pine
84 Slash pine
85 Slash pine - hardwood
87 Sweetgum - yellow-poplar
88 Willow oak - water oak - diamondleaf oak
89 Live oak
91 Swamp chestnut oak - cherrybark oak
92 Sweetgum - willow oak
96 Overcup oak - water hickory
97 Atlantic white-cedar
98 Pond pine
100 Pond cypress
101 Baldcypress
102 Baldcypress - tupelo
103 Water tupelo - swamp tupelo
104 Sweetbay - swamp tupelo - redbay
111 South Florida slash pine
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
NO-ENTRY
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
SPECIES: Magnolia grandiflora
WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE :
The hard, heavy wood of southern magnolia is used to make furniture,
pallets, and veneer [5,24].
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
Southern magnolia seeds are eaten by squirrels, opossum, quail, and the
wild turkey [23,24].
PALATABILITY :
NO-ENTRY
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
COVER VALUE :
Southern magnolia provides cover for many small birds and mammals [29].
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
NO-ENTRY
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
Southern magnolia is a valuable and extensively planted ornamental. The
leaves, fruit, bark, and wood yield a variety of extracts with potential
applications as pharmaceuticals [14,24]. Southern magnolia is a good
urban landscape tree because it is resistant to acid deposition [24].
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Winter drought can cause extensive dieback and mortality of southern
magnolia. Seedlings are susceptible to frost damage; even a light
freeze can cause mortality. A number of Fomes and Polyporus fungi cause
heartrot in southern magnolia. Heavy infestations of magnolia scale
(Neolecanium cornuparyum) kill branches or entire trees [14,24].
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Magnolia grandiflora
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Southern magnolia is a fast-growing, medium-sized, native evergreen tree
that grows 60 to 90 feet (18-27 m) tall [9,12]. The large, white
flowers are perfect and fragrant. The seeds are drupelike with a soft,
fleshy outer seed coat and an inner stony portion. Southern magnolia
develops a deep taproot. As trees grow the root structure changes.
Trees of sapling stage and beyond have a rather extensive root system.
Older trees develop a fluted base with the ridges corresponding to the
attachment of major lateral roots [5,12].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Undisturbed State: Phanerophyte (mesophanerophyte)
Undisturbed State: Phanerophyte (microphanerophyte)
Burned or Clipped State: Cryptophyte (geophtye)
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Southern magnolia is a prolific seed producer, and good seed crops
usually are produced every year. Trees as young as 10 years can produce
seed, but optimum seed production does not occur until age 25. Cleaned
seeds range from 5,800 to 6,800/pound (12,800-15,000/kg). Seed
viability averages about 50 percent. The relatively heavy seeds are
disseminated by birds and mammals, but some may be spread by heavy rains
[24]. Southern magnolia is pollinated by insects [23,30].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Southern magnolia grows best on rich, loamy, moist soils along streams
and near swamps in the Coastal Plain [1,21]. It grows also on mesic
upland sites where fire is rare. Although primarily a bottomland
species, southern magnolia cannot withstand prolonged inundation;
consequently, it is found mostly on alluvium and outwash sites [24]. No
part of its range is higher than 500 feet (150 m) in elevation and most
of it is less than 200 feet (60 m). Coastal areas within its range are
less than 100 feet (30 m) above sea level. In the northern parts of its
range in Georgia and Mississippi, it is found at elevations of 300 to
400 feet (90-120 m) [5,12,24]. In additon to those listed under under
Distribution and Occurrence, common overstory associates include
American beech (Fagus grandifolia), sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua),
yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), live oak (Quercus virginiana),
southern red oak (Q. falcata), white oak (Q. alba), mockernut hickory
(Carya tomentosa), and pignut hickory (C. glabra). Some common
understory associates include flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), swamp
dogwood (C. stricta), strawberry-bush (Euonymus americanus), southern
bayberry (Myrica cerifera), Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus
quinquefolia), greenbrier (Smilax spp.), and grape (Vitis spp.) [21,28].
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
Southern magnolia is moderately tolerant of shade. It can endure
considerable shade in early life but needs more light as it becomes
older [13]. Southern magnolia will invade pine or hardwood stands and
is able to reproduce under a closed canopy. It will not reproduce under
its own shade. Once established, it can maintain or increase its
presence in stands by sprouts and seedlings that grow up through
openings, which occur sporadically in the canopy [24]. Southern
magnolia has been migrating onto mesic upland sites and establishing
itself, along with associated hardwoods, as part of the climax forest
[22,23].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
Southern magnolia flowers between April and June; its fruit ripens from
September through late fall [6,12].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Magnolia grandiflora
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
Southern magnolia is well adapted to fire. Although the bark is
relatively thin, the cork layer underneath the bark does not burn easily
and is relatively resistant to heat [15,27].
FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find Fire Regimes".
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
survivor species; on-site surviving root crown or caudex
off-site colonizer; seed carried by animals or water; postfire yr 1&2
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Magnolia grandiflora
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
Southern magnolia seedlings are easily killed by fire. Older trees, due
to bark characteristics, are quite fire resistant. Plants sprout
vigorously when top-killed by fire [10,16,18].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT :
NO-ENTRY
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
Southern magnolia sprouts from surviving root collars following fire [8,16].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
NO-ENTRY
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Where fire is surpressed or infrequent, southern magnolia and live oak
can become dominant species in the southern mixed hardwood forests. The
transition from an open, fire-dominated forest to a closed-canopy,
deciduous forest favors the Quercus-Magnolia climax community [3,6,10].
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Magnolia grandiflora
REFERENCES :
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2. Bray, William L. 1901. The ecological relations of the vegetation of
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FEIS Home Page
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