''Magnolia'' × ''wieseneri'' is a

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

in the genus ''

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 ...

'' and family

Magnoliaceae The Magnoliaceae () are a flowering plant family, the magnolia family, in the order Magnoliales. It consists of two genera: ''Magnolia'' and ''Liriodendron'' (tulip trees). Unlike most angiosperms, whose flower parts are in whorls (rings), the ...

. A small tree or large shrub with white highly fragrant blooms, it is the progeny of ''

Magnolia sieboldii ''Magnolia sieboldii'', or Siebold's magnolia, also known as Korean mountain magnolia and Oyama magnolia, is a species of ''Magnolia'' native to east Asia in China, Japan, and Korea. It is named after the Germany, German doctor Philipp Franz von ...

'' and ''

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 ...

''.

Hybrid

The origins of ''Magnolia × wieseneri'' are obscure, but it is thought to have been a result of deliberate cross-breeding between the parent species some time in the 19th century or earlier in Japan, where it is known as ''Gyo Kusui'' or ''Ukesaki Oyama-renage''. It entered European horticulture at the 1889 Paris Exposition, where it was on display at the Japanese Court stand. From here, it was collected for

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...

, and named ''Magnolia × watsonii'' by

Joseph Hooker Joseph Hooker (November 13, 1814 – October 31, 1879) was an American Civil War general for the Union, chiefly remembered for his decisive defeat by Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863. Hooker had serv ...

in 1891. However,

Élie-Abel Carrière Élie-Abel Carrière (4 June 1818 – 17 August 1896) was a French botanist, based in Paris. He was a leading authority on conifers in the period 1850–1870, describing many new species, and the new genera ''Tsuga'', ''Keteleeria'' and '' ...

had named a specimen six months earlier in 1890 after a Mr Wiesener, who had purchased a plant from a Japanese horticulturist at the

Trocadéro The Trocadéro (), site of the Palais de Chaillot, is an area of Paris, France, in the 16th arrondissement, across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower. It is also the name of the 1878 palace which was demolished in 1937 to make way for the Palais ...

at the same time as the Exposition, and hence the French botanist's name was preserved under

International Code of Botanical Nomenclature The ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) is the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names that are given to plants, fungi and a few other groups of organisms, all those "trad ...

naming rules.

Description

''Magnolia × wieseneri'' is a multistemmed large shrub or small tree which may reach 6 m (20 ft) in height; it has leathery obovate green leaves that reach 20 cm (8 in) long by 10.5 cm (4 in) wide. Its most notable feature is the remarkable fragrance of the ivory-coloured flowers, which has been likened to pineapples and seen adjectives such as "ethereal", "spicy" and "aromatic" used. The flowers are cup-shaped at first, with a diameter of 10-12.5 cm (4–5 in), before flattening out to a diameter of 15–20 cm (6–8 in) after a few days.

Cultivation

A chance seedling, from the garden of Sir Peter Smithers at

Vico Morcote Vico Morcote is a municipality in the district of in the Lugano in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. Geography Vico Morcote has an area, , of . Of this area, or 16.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 72.8% is forested. Of the ...

in Switzerland, with more vigorous growth and larger flowers has been described as ''Magnolia'' "William Watson". The garden owner Smithers observed that there were specimens of ''M. obovata'' flowering nearby and that the cultivar is possibly a backcross with ''obovata''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magnolia wieseneri wieseneri Hybrid plants Garden plants of Europe Garden plants of North America Ornamental trees