Magnolia acuminata (L.) L.

Cucumber Magnolia; Cucumber Tree; Yellow Magnolia

Tree

Perennial

Vascular

Cucumber Magnolia is a native deciduous tree in the Magnolia family (Magnoliaceae). It can be found throughout most of Alabama. Cucumber Magnolia grows in rich hardwood forests, along the banks of streams, in steepheads and ravines, and on steep slopes. It is often a large tree reaching 100 feet in height. The bark is smooth, thin, and reddish brown on young twigs. On older limbs and the trunk, it is deeply furrowed and dark grayish brown in color. Leaves are alternate, deciduous, ovate to elliptic in outline, and entire. Leaf bases are cuneate to rounded, and the leaves are broadest near the middle. They are dark green and glabrous above and pale green to whitish on the lower surface. The lower surface of the leaf may be pubescent to nearly glabrous. The leaves turn bright yellow before falling in the Autumn. Flowers are produced before or with the leaves at the ends of branches. Flowers have several yellow-orange to greenish-yellow tepals and numerous stamens and pistils. The flowers are slightly fragrant. The fruit is a cone-like aggregate of follicles. The fruit often becomes red as the seed mature. The seed are covered in a red fleshy aril and are consumed by various birds and small mammals. Cucumber Magnolia is available from some native plant nurseries. It prefers a moist, organic rich soil in full sun to partial shade. It is slow growing and intolerant of pollution, drought, and flooding. It is one of the few Magnolia species with yellow flowers, and has been used by horticulturists to produce many hybrids. It is a tetraploid and the only American species in the subgenus Yulania. The soft, straight-grained wood is similar to yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) and is often sold as such.—A. Diamond.

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Native

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