Magnolia × soulangeana saucer magnolia

Saucer magnolia (Magnolia × soulangeana) in the History Corner of the Outer Quad. Sairus Patel, 18 Feb 2018

Two of eight saucer magnolia trees where Dueña St enters Escondido Mall, behind Memorial Church. Sairus Patel, 2 Feb 2017

The most commonly encountered deciduous magnolia on campus, and arguably the most spectacular. Its large, tulip-shaped flowers appear on bare branches in mid-winter, often becoming generally noticeable from late January into early March. The petals are not readily distinguishable from the sepals, and are called, happily enough, tepals. These are substantial and fleshy, pink on the outside and pale pink to white inside. The fuzzy, down-clad buds open sequentially, extending the display, though any individual flower may last little more than a fortnight. After flowering, large oval leaves emerge, broader at the ends, and the trees rapidly sink into nondescriptness for the remainder of the year.

Originating in the garden of retired French cavalry officer Étienne Soulange-Bodin near Paris around 1820, though similar hybrids may well have arisen in Japanese gardens long before, this group of crosses and back-crosses between the southeastern Chinese species M. denudata and M. liliiflora has elevated Soulange-Bodin’s name to eternal floral fame. Cultivated varieties are multitudinous and can be difficult to tell apart. None have been documented for Stanford specimens outside of private gardens on campus, and nurseries may not specify a cultivar name.

The most conspicuous plants are a group of eight where Dueña Street meets Escondido Mall, and a trio near the Post Office flagpole. One is on the east side of the Bookstore. A majestic specimen stands at 821 San Francisco Court. In Palo Alto, a massive eleven-trunked centenarian that bore about 2,000 flowers in a single season once grew adjacent to 125 Middlefield Road, opposite Hawthorne Avenue, but was lost around 2005.

‘Genie’, a small-statured, complex hybrid, has also appeared locally in recent years. Its rounded, tulip-shaped flowers are a deep, saturated plum-purple throughout, the inner surfaces sometimes lightening as the flowers age. A young specimen is at 708 Salvatierra Street on the left of the front path. (Also see pink-and-white M. × soulangeana ‘Alexandrina’ on the right.) A taller ‘Genie’ is to the left of the garage at 714 East Meadow Drive in Palo Alto. By parentage, ‘Genie’ is 56¼ percent Magnolia × soulangeana, 31¼ percent M. liliiflora (not counting its contribution in the soulangeana pedigree), 9⅜ percent M. campbellii, and 3⅛ percent M. sargentii, the latter represented by a single great-great-great-grandparent.

Magnolia × soulangeana leaf. From An Illustrated Manual of Pacific Coast Trees, Howard E. McMinn & Evelyn Maino

Name derivation: Magnolia – Pierre Magnol, 1638–1715, botanist of Montpellier; soulangeana – see text above.