Magnolia acuminata

Cucumber Magnolia (Magnolia acuminata )

The Cucumber Magnolia (Magnolia acuminata ) is a species in the genus Magnolia and thus belongs to the family of the magnolia family ( Magnoliaceae ). It grows as a deciduous tree of eastern North America, where it is called " cucumber tree". The name refers to the irregularly curved, leathery fruit.

Appearance

The cucumber magnolia is a deciduous tree, up to 24 meters, in exceptional cases, up to 30 meters high. It has a domed, pyramidal crown constructed, consisting of upright to slightly splayed branches. Unlike the frequently planted in Central Europe tulip magnolia in this Magnolienart is the root slender and straight. Buds and young twigs are hairy silvery, on older branches dark gray bark is finely ridged.

The change-constant leaves are ten to 25 inches long and four to 15 inches wide. The leaf shape is elliptical with a slender tip. The leaf base is wedge-shaped to slightly heart-shaped. On the top are the leaves of fresh green color, hairy above, pale green to whitish and sometimes.

The numbers that appear from April to June to coincide with the leaves, slightly fragrant flowers appear singly at the ends of the branches and are up to nine inches wide. A single flower consists of three outer, short and green tepals and six other, bluish - green, light green, light yellow or yellow-orange bloom cladding, which are arranged spirally. The flowers can reach a diameter of five to ten centimeters. In the center, 60 to 120 stamens with white filaments and 40 to 45 stamps. The resulting Sammelbalgfrucht is first green and turn red later. Because not all of the individual follicles seeds, the fruits are often irregularly shaped. The seeds are about an inch big, heart -shaped, and of an orange - red seed coat ( aril ) surrounding it.

Distribution area

The cucumber magnolia has its original area of ​​distribution in eastern North America, it is broadly in line with the course of the Appalachians. To the north it reaches Ontario and is thereby the only Magnolia variety which exists in Canada. In the south, isolated reserves will last to the Gulf of Mexico, the Ozark Mountains in the west are still colonized. The cucumber magnolia is found up to an altitude of 1500 meters. The climate is temperate and humid, the annual rainfall varies in the distribution area 900-2000 mm, the annual average temperature between 7 ° C and 18 ° C.

The populated soils are nutrient rich, deep, and well supplied with water. The pH is usually in the acid range, but also limestone soils are tolerated. On dry or waterlogged soils, this type does not occur. Most commonly it grows on north or east facing slopes.

The forests are dominated by various oak and hickory species of red and sugar maple. Other common trees are the tulip tree, Aesculus octandra and black walnut. In the understory shrubs such as Hamamelis virginiana, Cornus and Viburnum various species grow.

Use

The cucumber magnolia is occasionally cultivated in parks and gardens as ornamental tree. For this purpose, some varieties were read out, it is more important, however, as breeding partners to breed yellow flowering magnolias.

• ' Elizabeth ' - Magnolia acuminata × M. denudata, one of the first yellow flowering magnolias commercially flowers before the leaves, creamy white to pale yellow. The specimen used for the intersection of cucumber magnolia had inconspicuous green flowers, surprisingly resulted in the crossing a plant with yellow flowers.
• 'Yellow Bird' - Magnolia ' Evamaria ' × M. acuminata, also yellow flowers.
• M × brooklynensis - M. acuminata × M. liliiflora, the intersection between green-yellow and purple flowering plant produces sometimes strange brownish flower color, but also yellow or white flowers may occur. Named after the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, where these crossings were started in 1954.

The wood is sometimes used in furniture, in trading it is marketed together with the wood of the tulip tree as "yellow poplar ".

The Cherokee and Iroquois Indians used the bark of the cucumber magnolia as a medicine ..

System

The plant was already described in 1753 by Carolus Linnaeus, based on a previous publication by Mark Catesby as a variety of Magnolia virginiana. In 1759 he gave them as separate species. The name acuminata means " pointed " and refers to the leaf shape.

Within the genus Magnolia is the cucumber magnolia in the subgenus Yulania, filed there in the section Yulania; it is the only representative of subsection Tulipastrum. All other species of the section Yulania come from East Asia, such as the Yulan magnolia, the purple magnolia or the Star Magnolia. The number of chromosomes is 2n = 4x = 76, so the plants are tetraploid. In the distribution area, there is considerable variation, as far as the hair, the size of the plant or flower color. Several varieties have been described, today one assumes, however, that the differences can not be assigned to individual populations. Especially the variety subcordata ( Spach ) Dandy is still often referred to, they should be distinguishable yellow flowers, small, about ten feet high plants and hairy leaves and twigs. In the " Flora of North America" ​​is expressly mentioned, the cucumber magnolia should be done better without intraspecific taxa.