I saw this tree at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton, Ontario in early September, it has large pink seed pods almost like a King Protea. It was about 30-40 feet tall, and just a great looking tree but I have no idea what it was. I got a small seedling from a seed that fell on the ground.......bonus
Magnolia tripetala. Native to eastern US. Bold leaves and branching pattern from a hardy tree. Flowers malodorous, unfortunately.
Thanks for that Rob. Just one thing, what does "Flowers malodorous" mean ? I haven't seen that term used before. I looked it up, they are stinking flowers...phew. John
So which author goes around sniffing wet goats for research? ;-) Don't worry about it too much, it'll be a lo-o-ong time till the seedling is old enough to produce enough flowers to make a noticeable stink.