How old is the magnolia tree

Source: Rankin, G. China: Hamlin. To discuss this, please leave either a comment below or leave a comment over on Arbtalk. You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Google account. You are commenting using your Twitter account. You are commenting using your Facebook account. Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email. Skip to content Frequently residing in front gardens, the Magnolia is appreciated by-and-large for its amenity value.

The origin of the Magnolia Fossil records suggest that the genus has existed from the Cretaceous period million years ago , making the M agnolia the first flowering plant. Magnolia virginiana, introduced by John Bannister to the UK in Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Magnolia wilsonii was introduced into cultivation by Edward Henry Wilson, before his death in Share this: Twitter Facebook. The earliest western record of magnolias in cultivation is found in Aztec history at the time of Montezuma where there are illustrations of what we now know to be the very rare Magnolia dealbata. This plant survives only in a few places in the wild and, although climate change is largely to blame, the natives cut the flowers for festivals and this prevents the plants seeding.

It was found by a Spanish explorer called Hernandez who was commissioned by Philip II of Spain and whose work was published in Magnolias are however one of the most primitive plants in evolutionary history and fossil records show that magnolias once existed in Europe, North America and Asia over million years ago.

There are about 80 species of magnolia of which roughly half are tropical. The genus magnolia is the largest within the Magnoliacae but there are also 9 other linked genera which include Liriodendron 1 species only , Michelia 45 species and Manglietia 25 species.

After the latest reclassification of Magnoliacae, Michelias and Manglietias are now all renamed as magnolias. Astonishingly one of the closest genetic relations to the magnolia is the buttercup. Some of the earliest references to magnolias in literature refer to their purported medicinal properties. Anyone who has smelt the peculiar smell of magnolia sap — and what an alluring smell it is — will see how likely this was to appeal to those involved in medicine.

The flower buds of Magnolia salicifolia are used in Asia to treat headaches and allergies. A study reports on the potential use of this drug in the treatment of cancer. Another recent study found that tonics from the bark of Magnolia officinalis lessen tremor in patients with Parkinsons disease.

Who knows what may yet be discovered. On the other, most modern species combine both sexes in the same flower.

The authors of the study settle the question and show that the ancestral flower was a hermaphrodite. This means that early flowering plants could reproduce both as a male and a female. Combined sexes can be advantageous when colonising new environments as a single individual can be its own mate, and indeed many plant species colonising remote oceanic islands tend to be hermaphrodite. Maybe the combination of sexes helped early flowering plants to outcompete their rivals.

Despite the apparent similarity with some modern flowers, their ultimate ancestor has a few surprises up its sleeve. For example, botanist have long thought that early flowers had floral parts arranged in a spiral around the centre of the flower as can be seen in modern species such as the star anise.

The early flower had more numerous whorls, however, suggesting flowers have become simpler over time. Although now we have a good idea of what one of the earliest flowers may have looked like, we still know little about how that flower came to be. The detailed steps leading to its evolution are unknown. Perhaps we will have to wait for the discovery of new fossil flowers spanning the gap around mm years ago, before we can understand the very origin of what is the most diverse sexual structure on the planet.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Already a subscriber? Sign in. Thanks for reading Scientific American.