Magnolia

Magnolia is a large genus of about 120 flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae of the family Magnoliaceae.

Magnolia species are mainly found in eastern North America, Central America and east and southeast Asia, although some are also found in South America.

The genus is named after Pierre Magnol, a botanist from Montpellier in France. The first species belonging to this genus to be identified was M. virginiana (Sweetbay magnolia), found by missionaries sent to North America in the 1680s. This was followed by M. grandiflora early in the 18th century, another North American plant.

Magnolia is an ancient genus. Having evolved before bees appeared, the flowers developed to encourage pollination by beetles. As a result, the carpels of Magnolia flowers are tough to avoid damage. Fossilised specimens of M. acuminata have been found dating to 20 million years ago, and of plants identifiably belonging to the Magnoliaceae back to 95 million years ago. Another primitive aspect of Magnolias are their lack of distinct sepals or petals. The term tepal has been coined to refer to the intermediate element that the Magnolia has instead.