Large-leaved Magnolia Magnolia macrophylla

The Large-leaved Magnolia (M. macrophylla) is the rarest of the genus in our forests, being only found as yet in North Carolina. The leaves grow to an enormous size when the tree is young, often measuring three feet long, and nine or ten inches broad. They are oblong, oval, and heart-shaped at the base. The flowers are also immense, opening of the size of a hat-crown, and diffusing a most agreeable odor. The tree attains only a secondary size, and is distinguished in winter by the whiteness of its bark, compared with the others. It is rather tender north of New York.