Andalucia Life Fauna and Flora, Flowers of Andalucia Southern Spain

July 2007, Magnolia, Magnoliaceae

There are over 125 species of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs native to the Himalayas, South East Asia and North and South America within this genus. Many of you will be familiar with the species that grow in the UK and flower on bare branches before the new leaves have budded with those large goblet shaped creamy or white waxy flowers. Similarly many of you will have seen the Spanish version. It grows as a tree and has long ovate shaped deep green leaves that turn rust red beneath just before they drop. Strictly speaking it is deciduous but the new leaves open before the old have dropped. In June and July these magnificent trees flower. Each flower starts as a large creamy white candle shape and then opens out into the classic goblet shape. Sadly the individual flowers last no more than a couple of days.

Magnolias are one of the worlds most primitive surviving flowers, very similar to the very first flowers, only water lilies are thought to be more primitive which makes the magnolia very old indeed. Some of the earliest flower fossils are very similar to the magnolia. One of the ways to identify a primitive flower is by the arrangement of stamens and pistils. The magnolia has many stamens and many pistils. The stamens are arranged in spiralling rows and both stamen and pistils are attached to a finger like receptacle. Another way is to look at the designed method of pollination. The magnolia has a tough carpel to protect it from damage by beetles. This plant was around before bees evolved, in fact fossils of this family date back 95 million years.