Magnolias Plant Directory

Magnolia campbellii ssp. mollicomata
Section Yulania
Distribution: SE Tibet, N Burma, W Yunnan 3000m.
Always on the western flanks of those ranges where the monsoon rainfall is greatest.
Can grow to 30m tall.
Flowers: always has a beautiful cup-and-saucer shape, the outer tepals remaining horizontal and the inner ones forming a bulbous dome, the size is comparable to cambellii, but they are rose or rose-purple in bud immediately prior to opening, revealing a bright pink saucer; fruits are also an attraction with long bright red fruits in autumn.
April, significantly later than cambellii
Foliage: similar in outline to cambellii and have the same flattened hairs on the undersides.
This version takes less than half the time of cambellii to flower from seed, with 10-14 years as the average.
One of the main botanical distinctions between the two forms is the shape and size of the flower bud; tose of ssp. mollicomata are larger, oblong in shape, and have hairy internodes on flowering stems, while those of the species are glabrous.