Alternate name: Swamp Magnolia, Swamp Bay

Family: Magnoliaceae, Magnolia view all from this family

Description Tree with narrow, rounded crown that sheds its leaves in winter or is almost evergreen southward, and with aromatic spicy foliage and twigs.
Height: 20-60' (6-18 m).
Diameter: 1 1/2' (0.5 m).
Leaves: 3-6" (7.5-15 cm) long, 1 1/4-2 1/2" (3-6 cm) wide. Oblong, blunt at tip, without teeth, slightly thickened; short-stalked, becoming shiny green above, whitish and finely hairy beneath.
Bark: gray; smooth, thin, aromatic.
Twigs: with ring scars at nodes; ending in buds covered with whitish hairs.
Flowers: 2-2 1/2" (5-6 cm) wide; cup-shaped; with 9-12 white petals; fragrant; in late spring and early summer.
Fruit: 1 1/2-2" (4-5 cm) long; conelike; elliptical; dark red; composed of many separate pointed fruits, each with 2 red seeds; maturing in early autumn.

Habitat Wet soils of coastal swamps and borders of streams and ponds.

Range Long Island south to S. Florida and west to SE. Texas; local in NE. Massachusetts; to 500' (152 m).

Discussion This attractive, native ornamental is popular for its fragrant flowers borne over a long period, showy conelike fruit, handsome foliage of contrasting colors, and smooth bark. Introduced into European gardens as early as 1688. Called "Beavertree" by colonists who caught beavers in traps baited with the fleshy roots.