The Bull Bay magnolia, or Magnolia grandiflora, is a very common tree around Sydney. While it is far from my favourite magnolia (mainly because it is so common), it is a very nice looking tree and is a s tough as old boots, as the saying goes. This particular magnolia is native to the USA, more specifically to the south east of the country, from Virginia in the north, to Florida in the south and east and the eastern parts of Texas in the west. The common name of Bull Bay magnolia comes from, I have to assume, Bull Bay in Florida where this tree possibly calls home. The binomial name, Magnolia grandiflora, has the following meanings:

• Magnolia-was used to honour a French botanist called Pierre Magnol, who eventually became the Professor of Botany and Director of the Royal Botanic Garden in Montpellier among other things.
• Grandiflora-comes from two Latin words grandis which means large or great and flora which means flower.

In its native habitat, this magnolia resides in lowland sub-tropical forest on the Atlantic coastal plain and around the Gulf of Mexico. In Florida, it is in well-draining soils that exist in ravines, on slopes, in hummocks and flood plains containing woodland. While the tree likes moist soils, it can’t cope with inundated soils.

The evergreen leaves can reach twenty centimetres long and twelve centimetres wide. They are leathery in nature with a glossy dark green upper surface. The lower surface is a paler green that is often covered in rusty coloured hairs.

The flowers are rather large, shaped a little like cups. White in colour, they appear all summer here in Sydney, in their native USA, they appear in spring and summer.

The flowers are followed by fruit. The fruit are up to fifteen centimetres long. When the seeds are ripe, the fruit turns brown and the seeds are red. The seeds are a tasty food for birds and mammals who also spread these seeds.

Once established, this magnolia is drought tolerant and will thrive in full sun with hot conditions-the perfect plant for Australia in some ways. One reason for this drought tolerance is the fact that this magnolia has a natural root spread that is four times larger than the spread of the canopy. In situations where the tree cannot have a root spread of this size (or where soil is dry and/or poor), drought tolerance wont be as good as the tree can’t grow into its full natural glory.

Here is Sydney, the Bull Bay magnolia is often used as a street tree, especially in areas where there isn’t a massive amount of space. It always looks good and rarely, if ever, seems to have an issue from what I have seen. It is always green, flowers reliably and is a solid and tough tree to have around. These are definitely good features to have in a street tree. The only problem that I have is that it is a little too common, which is something that I don’t like, but that isn’t the fault of the tree itself!