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The Roy Overland Charitable Trust
Julian Sutton (2022)
Recommended citation
Sutton, J. (2022), 'Magnolia Cultivars M' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Our primary references for cultivar information are Jim Gardiner’s (2000) ‘Magnolias: a Gardener’s Guide’ and Matt Lobdell’s (2021) register of cultivars for Magnolia Society International. Further references are cited where relevant. Other important accounts of cultivars include Dorothy Callaway’s (1994) ‘The World of Magnolias’ and (in German) Beet Heerdegen and Reto Eisenhut’s (2020) ‘Magnolien und Tulpenbäume: Magnoliaceae’. Magnolia Society International’s journal ‘Magnolia’ is an ongoing trove of information.
See Magnolia × loebneri ‘Mag’s Pirouette’.
See Magnolia grandiflora ‘Majestic Beauty’.
(M. × veitchii) × (M. × soulangeana 'Lennei Alba')
RHS Hardiness Rating: H6
USDA Hardiness Zone: 6-9
Flowers precocious, goblet-shaped; tepals 9, broad, white with a small purplish-pink stain at the base. A small to medium tree, floriferous and upright, one of the original Gresham hybrids (Edwards & Marshall 2019).
(M. liliifora × M. cylindrica) × (M. × soulangeana 'Pickard's Ruby')
RHS Hardiness Rating: H6
USDA Hardiness Zone: 5-8
Flowers primarily from axillary buds, the main flush before the leaves but continuing irregularly through the summer, cup-shaped, later splaying open, quite small; tepals red-purple outside, paler inside; later flowers often darker. A large, dense, upright shrub selected in 1997 by August Kehr, NC (Edwards & Marshall 2019).
See Magnolia virginiana ‘Mattie Mae Smith’.
M. liliiflora 'Nigra' × M. campbellii Mollicomata Group 'Bernie Holland'
RHS Hardiness Rating: H5
USDA Hardiness Zone: 7-9
Flowers precocious, over a long season, cup-and-saucer- to bowl-shaped; tepals 12, warm red-pink paling with age. A large, upright, multistemmed shrub or small tree raised in the early 1990s by Vance Hooper working at Duncan & Davies, New Zealand, and named for his mother.
M. liliiflora 'Nigra' × M. kobus
RHS Hardiness Rating: H6
USDA Hardiness Zone: 5-8
Flowers precocious, over about 4 weeks (late March to April in S England), erect and tulip-shaped, to 13 cm across, lightly fragrant; tepals 6, rich red-purple outside, inside pink with purplish veins. A medium to large multistemmed shrub, a triploid (2n=57) from a cross made in 1954 by Evamaria Sperber at Brooklyn Botanic Garden; introduced 1989 and named for Marillyn Wilson, a trustee of the garden. Its hardiness (perhaps even to USDA zone 4 – Ledvina 2005) is significant (Koerting 2000).
M. denudata × M. sargentiana 'Blood Moon'
Synonyms / alternative names
Magnolia 'Marj Gossler'
RHS Hardiness Rating: H5
USDA Hardiness Zone: 6-9
Flowers precocious (mid to late March in S England), cup-shaped, to 30 cm across, fragrant; tepals 7–8, white stained pink at the base outside. A fast growing medium tree, a hardier alternative to M. × veitchii, raised before 1987 by Phil Savage, MI. Named for a member of the family team running Gossler Farms, OR, from where Savage acquired pollen used in the cross (Gossler Farms Nursery 2022). Highly rated by Philippe de Spoelberch, Belgium (pers. comm. 2021).
M. campbellii 'Lanarth' × probably M. sargentiana var. robusta
RHS Hardiness Rating: H4
USDA Hardiness Zone: 8-9
Flowers precocious, March to early April in S England, cup-and-saucer-shaped to 27 cm across, rich pink outside, cream with a hint of lavender inside. A small to medium pyramidal tree received by Felix Jury, New Zealand, as M. campbellii ‘Lanarth’ from Hillier Nurseries in the 1950s. It proved to be a hybrid seedling, probably with M. sargentiana. An important pollen parent of the earlier Jury hybrids (q.v.), it is named for Jury’s son who continues the breeding work (Jury 2017; Jury & Jury 2021).
See Magnolia sprengeri ‘Marwood Spring’.
(M. × veitchii) × (M. × soulangeana 'Lennei Alba')
RHS Hardiness Rating: H6
USDA Hardiness Zone: 6-9
Flowers precocious, cup-shaped to 25 cm across; tepals thick and fleshy, 9, white stained purplish-pink at the base outside. A vigorous, multistemmed small tree or large shrub. A Gresham hybrid named 1986 by Ken Durio, LA; Mary Nell McDaniel was married to arch-magnolia-enthusiast Joe McDaniel.
M. virginiana × M. grandiflora
RHS Hardiness Rating: H6
USDA Hardiness Zone: 6b-9
Evergreen, widely spreading, large shrub or small tree, much resembling M. grandiflora. Fragrant white flowers in summer, opening to a cup. Tetraploid (2n=76), from a controlled cross made in 1930 by Oliver Freeman of the US National Arboretum, named 1959 (compare ‘Freeman’ of the same origin, which is a narrower plant with smaller flowers which open less readily, and smaller leaves). ‘Interesting hybrid’ notes Philippe de Spoelberch (pers. comm. 2021).
See Magnolia virginiana ‘Mattie Mae Smith’.
M. acuminata 'Miss Honeybee' × (M. × loebneri 'Merrill')
RHS Hardiness Rating: H6
USDA Hardiness Zone: 5-9
Flowers more or less precocious and abundant, yellow, cup shaped before splaying open; tepals 6. Large shrub or small tree raised by Phil Savage, MI, before 1999.
See Magnolia virginiana ‘Mayer’.
M. × pruhoniciana 'Silk Road' × M. insignis 'Anita Figlar'
Evergreen or tardily deciduous, depending on climate and season. Flowers with the leaves in June, initially cup-shaped, opening to 20 cm across, fragrant; outer tepals rose pink, inner tepals variably white and pale pink, giving a bicoloured effect. Upright small tree, hardiness not yet fully tested. A Dennis Ledvina intersectional hybrid grown and selected by Kevin Parris, SC. US Plant Patent 29707 granted 2018 (Google Patents 2016).
See Magnolia Cultivars N–O ‘NCMX1’.
See Magnolia × loebneri ‘Merrill’.
M. 'Caerhays Belle' × M. 'Genie'
Synonyms / alternative names
Magnolia WATERMELON
RHS Hardiness Rating: H5
USDA Hardiness Zone: 7-9
Flowers precocious, to 20 cm across, bright purplish-pink with 9–12 tepals. A small, upright tree flowering from a young age, bred by Vance Hooper, New Zealand, before 2019 (Plantipp 2022). Protected by European Plant Breeders’ Rights.
probably M. campbellii Alba Group × M. sargentiana var. robusta
RHS Hardiness Rating: H4
USDA Hardiness Zone: 8-9
Flowers precocious, cup-and-saucer shaped with reflexing outer tepals, soft purple-pink. The original at Nymans, Sussex, was a beautiful, upright, medium tree of 12 m × 109 cm in 2016 (The Tree Register 2022). Received as a seedling from Hillier Nurseries (ex Caerhays Castle) as M. campbellii Alba Group, acquired for Nymans by Anne Parsons, later named for her late husband the 6th Earl of Rosse nicknamed ‘The Adonis of the Peerage’ (Wikipedia 2022). ‘Princess Margaret’ as well as the little-known ‘Moresk’ are comparable, both derived from M. campbellii Alba Group seed from Caerhays.
Synonyms / alternative names
Magnolia FAIRY MAGNOLIA BLUSH
RHS Hardiness Rating: H5
USDA Hardiness Zone: 7-9
Evergreen michelia hybrid. Buds lateral as well as terminal, with rufous hairs. Flowers in spring, continuing through the summer, blush from pink buds, less coloured later. A dense large shrub or small tree, amenable to clipping once or twice per year and marketed in part as ornamental hedging (Anthony Tesselaar Plants 2022). Bred by Mark Jury, New Zealand, who is ‘positively evasive’ over the details of breeding (Jury & Jury 2021), but the species contributing to the breeding line are M. doltsopa, M. figo and M. laevifolia; introduced 2008, protected by New Zealand and European plant breeder’s rights (Jury 2017; Jury & Jury 2021).
Synonyms / alternative names
Magnolia FAIRY MAGNOLIA CREAM
RHS Hardiness Rating: H5
USDA Hardiness Zone: 7-9
Evergreen michelia hybrid. Buds lateral as well as terminal, with rufous hairs. Cream flowers to 10 cm across in spring, continuing through the summer, fragrant. A dense large shrub or small tree, amenable to clipping once or twice per year and marketed in part as ornamental hedging (Anthony Tesselaar Plants 2022). Bred by Mark Jury, New Zealand, who is ‘positively evasive’ over the details of breeding (Jury & Jury 2021), but the species contributing to the breeding line are M. doltsopa, M. figo and M. laevifolia; introduced 2013, protected by New Zealand and European plant breeder’s rights (Jury 2017; Jury & Jury 2021).
Synonyms / alternative names
Magnolia FAIRY MAGNOLIA WHITE
RHS Hardiness Rating: H4
USDA Hardiness Zone: 8-9
Evergreen michelia hybrid. Buds lateral as well as terminal, with rufous hairs. Flowers from late winter to spring, fragrant, pure white. A bushy large shrub or small tree, amenable to clipping. Bred by Mark Jury, New Zealand, who is ‘positively evasive’ over the details of breeding (Jury & Jury 2021), but the species contributing to the breeding line are at least M. doltsopa and M. laevifolia; larger flowered but less hardy than than ‘Jurmag01’ and ‘Jurmag02’ which have a smaller M. doltsopa input. Introduced 2013, protected by New Zealand and European plant breeder’s rights (Jury 2017; Jury & Jury 2021).
M. × soulangeana 'Lennei Alba' × M. 'Mark Jury'
Awards
AGM
RHS Hardiness Rating: H5
USDA Hardiness Zone: 7-9
Flowers precocious, late March to April in S England, large and fragrant; tepals thick, white, flushed soft pink at the base. A small to medium tree, flowering prolifically from a young age, raised by Felix Jury, New Zealand, introduced 1988. ‘Athene’ and ‘Lotus’ share this parentage (Jury 2017; Jury & Jury 2021). Starred as worthwhile by Philippe de Spoelberch, Belgium (pers. comm. 2021).
See Magnolia virginiana ‘Milton’.
See Magnolia laevifolia ‘GCCHU2008’.
See Magnolia denudata ‘Minrose’.
See Magnolia acuminata ‘Miss Honeybee’.
See Magnolia acuminata ‘Mister Yellowjacket’.
See Magnolia × foggii ‘Mixed up Miss’.
See Magnolia acuminata ‘Moegi Dori’.
See Magnolia grandiflora ‘Monland’.
See Magnolia virginiana ‘Jim Wilson’.
probably M. sargentiana × M. campbellii
RHS Hardiness Rating: H4
USDA Hardiness Zone: 8-9
Flowers precocious but not abundant, extremely large, to 37 cm across, cup-and-saucer-shaped but quickly flopping due to their size; tepals pale reddish violet outside, white inside. Medium tree, a chance seedling purchased from Iufer Nursery, OR, about 1963 by Frank Mossman of Vancouver, BC.
M. sargentiana × M. sprengeri 'Diva'
RHS Hardiness Rating: H5
USDA Hardiness Zone: 7-9
Flowers precocious, continuing later than most M. campbellii, large, erect to outfacing, reddish purple ageing much lighter pink. A medium tree from a cross made at Caerhays Castle, Cornwall in 1951 but registered only in 2016 (Williams 2022). The original tree, in a most conspicuous position at Caerhays, reached 16 m in 64 years.