Hoyt Arboretum, Portland, Oregon, USA

Common name: Wilson's Magnolia

Family: Magnoliaceae

Distribution: China (Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan)

Habitat: Montane forest and thicket between 2,000 and 3,300 m.

IUCN Red list: Near threatened

Hardiness: Zone 6a -10 to -5 F

Life form: Deciduous tree

Usage: Ornamental flowering tree

Comments: Wilson's Magnolia is native to the Szechuan and Yunnan provinces in western China. It is a large deciduous shrub or small tree that typically grows to 20' tall and to 13' wide. Nodding, fragrant, white flowers bloom in spring shortly after the elliptic-lanceolate green leaves to 3-6" long emerge. Each saucer-shaped, downward-facing flower 3-5" diameter has pure white tepals with a center clump of rose-purple stamens surrounding a pale green gynoecium. Flowers are followed by pink fruits that ripen in fall.
Best grown in moist, slightly acidic, organically rich, well-drained loams in full sun to part shade.