PlantFiles: Bigleaf Magnolia, Large-leaved Cucumber Tree
Magnolia macrophylla

I have acquired this plant, a few of them in fact in 2011 from a friend in Southeastern Ohio that was clearing a piece of wooded land for access to his pond and just this one survived the past two winters & the drought last year. The ones I have seen around his pond are the coolest blooming trees I have ever seen in Ohio. Once I finally figured out what this tree was I wanted to find out more about it to help it grow to maturity around my new back patio in Grove City Ohio.
I need to move the tree as the spot it is growing will not work permanently.
I have a SSW facing patio and would really like to get it moved now & not risk killing it.
I have placed a lot of good topsoil around this patio but the underlying soil is clay which Im not sure about this tree growing in? I was thinking of planting it on the SSW corner of my home & let it grow to provide shade, privacy, & beauty for out patio.
Does anyone have advice to help me succeed in my endeavor?
Mark

I bought a home in New Zealand in the North Island with a mature Magnolia macrophylla. It is the only one I have ever seen here and no garden centre or horticulturist was able to identify it. The nearest we came was seboldii. Have just discovered it is macryphylla and am amazed that it is here in New Zealand. It has produced a seedling, true to type which is in a pot. The house was owned by an old lady who had lived there for 45 years until she entered a rest home and passed. So no one to ask how she came by it. The garden is very small and has some nice varieties of unusual plants.
Does anyone know how this tree came to be in New Zealand?
I just love it. The light shining through the pale jade leaves and those enormous flowers look like white herons perching in the tree. I enjoy the way it produces flowers over a period of time not all at once and those red cones! I am going to try to grow more from seed. any suggestions on best method?

My first experience with the big leaf magnolia was in 1982 when I saw my first one at Bankhead National Forest in Double Springs, AL. They were magnificent and they were very prolific. They were usually at the edge of the dense forest and were in very moist rich soil. I later found them in MS as well and acquired 8 and planted them in a shaded area of my mothers front yard. Five are alive today and have several small ones. Two were propagated from seed because they are located several feet from the adults and four are coming from the parent as an offshoot or runner. They produce wonderful shade in the summer and are very fragrent.

We've got 1 specimen growing in our yard way up in Connecticut. Obviously not native but it does great in all weather and seasons. Sadly we lost a good portion of it in hurricance Irene, but I know the tree will live on, as it has lost major branches and has had a split in the trunk for years with no ill effects. This tree gives tons of shade with it's huge leaves and lends a tropical look right next to our pool.

This is now my favorite tree! My husband and I discovered a grove of Bigleaf Magnolias canopied in the woods on our farm in southern Middle Tennessee, and they looked like magical, green umbrellas overhead. There were babies popping up everywhere. We dug up a rather smallish one, and it has thrived in a pot for over a year. We will plant it this fall near our house. A naturalist here identified it as a Cowcumber Tree. That is the common name rather than Cucumber Tree, I believe. And, we were thrilled to discover that it is a native tree!

Have these growing naturally in the woods along a creek at my home near Gastonia, NC (Spencer Mtn. area).

The only specimen I've seen in person was at Crosby Arboretum in Picayune, MS. I have to say it looked pretty raggedy, but then again, this was on a 98º day in July. (It was growing in a very shady mature forest nook, though.) The forest guide dude was really excited to tell me about it, so that's how I knew it was not your everyday magnolia. They looked like an even uglier Catalpa to me, to be honest, but it was pretty cool to see such a rare-ish native tree up close. So I'm giving this tree a "Positive" rating simply because I can find no rationale to give it a Neutral or Negative just based on not being aesthetically pleasing to me.

Update, Oct. 2011: The guide told me that the tree looks bad because a kid had swung from it and split it, so he put some screws in it to heal the split.

This is an amazing tree which is not as well known as it should be in the garden. With leaves up to 80cm. long it holds the record as the plant with the largest simple leaves in North America. And even though the evergreen Southern Magnolia has the honor of being named Magnolia Grandiflora, Magnolia Macrophylla has the largest single flower in North America. The gigantic leaves on the single stick saplings fool many as being banana trees. The Umbrella Magnolia which also has large leaves is sometimes confused with the Big Leaf Magnolia. Leaf shape is one easy way of differentiating. The Umbrella Magnolia has cuneate (wedge-shaped) leafe bases whereas the Big Leaf Magnolia has auriculate (ear-shaped) leaf bases. This is an understory forest tree. In cultivation it should be planted in a semi-sheltered site to protect it from strong winds which may shred its massive leaves. Plant this tree and you will soon fall in love with the sound of rain beginning to fall on its leaves in Spring and the gentle thud of the leaves falling in Autumn.