UBC Accession #27010-0317-1987 Photo by Daniel Mosquin Entrance (near boardwalk) February 21, 2003 A full month earlier than last year! The flower is right in the middle.
This species is one of the most spectacular in flower. The fallen leaves are a source of interest in the Seattle arboretum, as the outer rim, veins and stalk persist after the tissue between has disappeared. There is a 'Blood Moon' comparatively near the entrance - although I wouldn't say it was along the boardwalk - might the specimen shown be one of those? In these photos it seems to have the same 'Diva' like coloring of that cultivar (based on one so-labeled in Lam Garden), rather than the less reddish pigmentation usually seen.
Not sure - this is definitely a plant along the boardwalk, though. In the accession system, it is actually listed as M. sargentiana var. robusta (dark form) (which we'll write these days as dark-flowered selection).
Callaway (1994): "'Chyverton Dark' Flowers fuchsia in bud, mauve when open. Listed by Treseder's Nurseries, Cornwall, England, ca. 1973; cultivated at Chyverton, Cornwall, England." Gardiner (2000): "'Chyverton Dark Form' and 'Chyverton Pale Form' were selected by Nigel Holman of Chyverton, Zelah, Cornwall. The former has deep purple buds..." Since, like M. campbellii, this species varies from white to purple maybe there is a case for at least adding 'dark-flowered selection' to the title of this thread to indicate the specimen shown is of a particular type, even if it cannot be verified that it is the clone from Chyverton.
I would think to include 'dark-flowered selection' for the title of this thread would be wrong to do. Coming a nurseryman's view that selected out the seedling and in some cases saw a difference from the cutting (which happens with Sargentiana, much more so with the seldom any more seen species form), grew it on and then outlet the plant to an arboretum, we would call it simply dark form. It is already assumed it is a selected form. There is an acknolwedged dark form of 'Robusta' so if the dark form let's say at Strybing is not the same plant as the UBC has then we need to know the sourcing of the plant at the Botanical Garden to see if we are on the same playing field. I know where the plant came from that has been at Strybing for a while and who selected it out. Another thing worth mentioning is that the dark form at Strybing and the one at Filoli from the same source (both are from cuttings) have flowers that are not quite the same color as one will fade to a light silvery pink faster than the one at Strybing will. In bud they are about the same color, very similar to the emerging flower in the first photo above. A lot is due to direct sunlight as the one at Strybing is protected by several Campbellii in a Southwestern exposure and the one at Filoli is in a non-protected Southern exposure. What I am saying is that we cannot rely on color from plant to plant as the coloring can change on us depending on how much sunlight the plant gets and the plants exposure alone. Jim
Messing things up even more with photographs is getting the colour exactly right - in appreciating the subtlety of differences sometimes, you almost need a side-by-side comparison (unless you can standardize the photo against a grey card + have perhaps the RHS colour codes at your disposal). We try to avoid using zzzz-flowered or yyyy-leaved form at the garden, as an attempt to not confuse the botanical forma. Occasionally we use "selection" or "ecotype". I'm not saying it's the best solution to the problem, but I'd be happy to continue a discussion on that particular topic in the Plant Names and Taxonomy forum...
I wrote silvery pink for a reason as the dark form of this Magnolia can turn that color for us down here. The RHS color standard will not be of much help for these plants as many of these plants people claim to have in England did not have their origins there, although several were indeed raised, selected out and grown in England. No question about that. When we deal with color forms of 'Robusta' we have to keep in mind that there are more than one shade of color that these plants will have of the dark, light and intermediate forms. The higher degree of color variance is in the intermediate forms. People just have not seen these color variants in arboretums and botanical gardens to know them. They had to go to the sources and see them in bloom growing side by side and then still did not want to accept what their eyes were seeing.. After the explosion from the Felix Jury hybrids, people started taking the ball from the sources and ran with it but they started thinking too much. Thinking in terms of elements they were seeing that they wanted and hoped they were seeing without consulting the people that actually grew and selected out the plant to ask them what is going on as they did not need us any more or so they thought! Jim
I love this tree so much! It's really beautiful during the spring with it's large flowers. I wanted to grow one of these in my backyard, but then I thought why when I would have to also rake during the spring time since all the flowers fall at the same time causing a huge mess!.. But one great looking flower tree I'll say that! Nice pictures!
Pets have to be cleaned up after, whereas trees do not. Wow and amaze your friends: plant a magnolia.
trees also need to be cleaned after - but only about once a year!! pets do need much more cleaning after i agree... i think i'll take your advice about planting a magnolia, after seeing all these lovely pictures here. at what age do these trees start to bloom?
I think that by using parens with a lower case qualifier, one could indicate that this particular tree has darker flowers than the norm. It does not indicate that it is or is not vegetatively related to the other tree. Before getting too fine with shades of colors, there are many factors that affect the intensity of a shade. On my M. 'Vulcan', the later, higher flowers are lighter shades than the lower, earlier flowers. Thus, my M.'Vulcan' does not exhibit a particular shade, per se.
That one is variable anyway, sometimes not producing reddish flowers. This has been associated with cool climate conditions, yet I have seen both reddish and non-reddish flowered ones here in the same area. My own specimen, a beanpole by now getting fairly tall has never had good color.
Different accession, but I want to show the Magnolia sargentiana fruit in a thread with the flowers, and I would expect them to look the same. Accession: 022601-5236-1984 Location: South side of the boardwalk, near the fence, area 3AA6 Date: September 7, 2012
