''Magnolia officinalis'' (commonly called houpu magnolia or magnolia-bark) is a species of ''

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendro ...

'' native to the mountains and valleys of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

at altitudes of 300–1500 m.

Identification

It is a

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

growing to 20 m in height. The bark is thick and brown, but does not fissure. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are broad, ovate, 20–40 cm long, and 11–20 cm broad. The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are fragrant and 10–15 cm wide, with 9–12 (rarely to 17) white

tepal A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

s, and appear from May to June. The two

varieties Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

are: *''Magnolia officinalis'' var. ''officinalis'' has leaves with an acute apex. *''Magnolia officinalis'' var. ''biloba'' has leaves with a notch at the apex. This variety does not appear in the wild, and is only known in cultivation. It is possibly not a true variety at all, but actually a

cultigen A cultigen () or cultivated plant is a plant that has been deliberately altered or selected by humans; it is the result of artificial selection. These plants, for the most part, have commercial value in horticulture, agriculture or forestry. Beca ...

instead, though this has yet to be determined. ''M. officinalis'' differs very little from ''

Magnolia obovata ''Magnolia obovata'', the Japanese cucumber tree,Kayano, S. (2014). ''Ainu Tools''. Biratori: Yuideku Co., Ltd. Japanese bigleaf magnolia, or Japanese whitebark magnolia, is a species of ''Magnolia'', native to Japan and the adjacent Kurile Isla ...

''; the only difference consistently observed between the two is that the fruit aggregate of ''M. officinalis'' has a rounded base, while that of ''M. obovata'' has an acute base. Further research may or may not eventually determine if ''M. officinalis'' should be treated as a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of ''M. obovata''.

Uses

The highly aromatic bark is stripped from the stems, branches, and roots and used in

traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of action ...

, where it is known as ''hou po'' (厚朴; thus the common name). The traditional use indications are to eliminate damp and phlegm, and relieve distension. Today, the bulk of bark used for commercial and domestic use is supplied by plants in cultivation.

Pharmaceutical potential

The bark contains

magnolol Magnolol is an organic compound that is classified as lignan. It is a bioactive compound found in the bark of the Houpu magnolia (''Magnolia officinalis'') or in '' M. grandiflora''. The compound exists at the level of a few percent in the bark o ...

and

honokiol Honokiol is a lignan isolated from the bark, seed cones, and leaves of trees belonging to the genus ''Magnolia''. It has been identified as one of the chemical compounds in some traditional eastern herbal medicines along with magnolol, 4-O-methyl ...

, two polyphenolic compounds that have been demonstrated as

peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma Peroxisome proliferator- activated receptor gamma (PPAR-γ or PPARG), also known as the glitazone reverse insulin resistance receptor, or NR1C3 (nuclear receptor subfamily 1, group C, member 3) is a type II nuclear receptor functioning as a tran ...

(PPAR gamma) agonists and GABA_A modulators.

Gallery

File:Magnolia officinalis bud.jpg, Bud

References

External links

''Magnolia officinalis'' images in the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University Plant Image Database

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1042288

officinalis ''Officinalis'', or ''officinale'', is a Medieval Latin epithet denoting organisms—mainly plants—with uses in medicine, herbalism and cookery. It commonly occurs as a specific epithet, the second term of a two-part botanical name. ''Officinali ...

Conservation dependent plants Medicinal plants