MAGNOLIA

A 30-foot-tall muse lives with us! Magnolias are “common” in southeastern United States, but they’re extraordinary! They’re an ancient genus—it’s thought that blooms evolved to be pollinated by beetles who were around long before bees. Likely to have existed on supercontinent Pangea, magnolias are native to Americas + southeast Asia. Magnolia petals (fresh, candied, or pickled) + leaves (cooked or dried) are delicacies. Magnolias are used in traditional medicine + folk remedies; they feed birds, squirrels, opossums, + deer. The joy brought by magnolias’ cycles of leaves, flowers, + seedpods is rivaled only by the fragrance of her springtime blooms.