Magnolias

One of the most beautiful and stunning of plants when in flower, all the more so in that the large flowers often open before the leaves and are therefore very obvious. As a group they form an important part of the spring colour in the arboretum although some do flower in the summer. It is a primitive genus. The flowers do not have differentiated petals or sepals like an ordinary flowering plant. What look like the petals are in fact known as "tepals". As a whole the Magnolias have flowers that are very firm in texture, especially the summer flowerers. Quite a number are scented.