By Pat McCracken
| Evergreen Magnoliaceae Evaluations By Pat McCracken |
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The collection of Magnoliaceae at the J. C. Raulston Arboretum at North Carolina State University has become extensive over the past several years. As curator of the magnolia collection, I have taken a personal interest in the evergreen members of this family. Most people are familiar with the popular southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora); however, even most enthusiasts have never seen the more exotic species of evergreen Magnoliaceae. One of my goals is to introduce the gardening public to this diverse and landscape worthy group of plants. To my knowledge, a thorough and serious collection of these plants has not been done to date.
Initially, I decided to emphasize Magnolia grandiflora cultivars. The collection now contains nearly 100 selections of this wonderful species and represents one of the largest collections of this species in the World. Unfortunately these plants require a tremendous amount of space, and can not all be grown at the arboretum. The collection is being housed by Taylor’s Nursery in Raleigh, NC and will be maintained there for the duration of the evaluations. Taylor’s has graciously agreed to donate several acres of field space for this extensive collection. I am currently also trying to collect all other species and cultivars of evergreen Magnoliaceae for evaluation. One of the primary interests in the Magnolia grandiflora collection is to evaluate for cold hardiness. This will be done with cooperative research with Dr. Paul Cappiello at Bernheim Arboretum in Kentucky. Dr. Cappiello will be conducting laboratory experiments to determine the theoretical minimum temperatures each cultivar can withstand. At the termination of the laboratory trial, we will conduct extensive field trials of the hardiest cultivars in northern text sites. This knowledge will be invaluable to the nursery industry because it will allow us to aggressively make selections of magnolias that can be marketed far North of the current market. It will also be of great value in magnolia breeding. By crossing the hardiest Magnolia grandiflora cultivars with other less hardy species it should be possible to produce cold hardy hybrids with great garden merit. The other evergreen species will also be evaluated for cold-hardiness and landscape value. There is a large number of species that may have commercial value in the warmer regions of the United States.
If you have evergreen Magnoliaceae that are not on the following lists and would be willing to send us cuttings for our collections, please email me at .
List of the (evergreen) cultivars and species currently housed by Taylor’s Nursery.
List of the (evergreen) cultivars and species currently in the arboretum.
Cultivars Needed for Evaluation
If you have any of the following cultivars and would be willing to send either cuttings or small rooted plants, please . If you have any information on any of the cultivars listed anyplace in this website (breeder or originator, cold hardiness information, date of release, nomenclature, etc.) please send me that information also.
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