''Magnolia'' × ''alba'', also known as the white champaca, white sandalwood, or white jade orchid tree, 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 diff ...

flowering plant that is commonly cultivated in Southeast Asia and tropical regions of East Asia. Although the exact origin is uncertain, it is considered to be a hybrid of ''

Magnolia champaca ''Magnolia champaca'', known in English as champak (), is a large evergreen tree in the family Magnoliaceae. It was previously classified as ''Michelia champaca''. It is known for its fragrant flowers, and its timber used in woodworking. Etymo ...

'' and '' Magnolia montana''.

Names

The current name of the white champaca is derived from its local name in Indonesian, ''Cempaka Putih''. The white champaca is known by various names in English including ''pak lan'' in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

transcription of 白蘭. Horticultural trade names used in the United States include the

taxonomic synonym In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The Botanical nomenclature, botanical and Zoological nomenclature, zoological codes of nomencl ...

''Michelia alba'' to fanciful ones such as 'white fragrant himalayan champaca'. Names in other languages include ''kantil'' in Javanese. In Taiwan, the tree and specifically the flower, is known as 玉蘭花 (yü lan hua).

Description

''Magnolia'' × ''alba'' matures to 30 meters with evergreen leaves; the flowers have a count of 12

tepals 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 ve ...

Uses

''Magnolia'' × ''alba'' is widely cultivated as an ornamental in Asia, particularly tropical and

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

regions of China and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

for the strongly fragrant flowers. In Taiwan, the flowers are plucked from trees before they open and bunches of them are strung together on wire, to be sold at roadside to truck and taxi drivers. The flowers remain fragrant for several days, before wilting and being disposed of. In Indonesia, the pleasantly fragrant flower is used and arranged together with ''

Jasminum sambac ''Jasminum sambac'' (Arabian jasmine or Sambac jasmine) is a species of jasmine native to Bhutan and India. It is cultivated in many places, especially West Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is naturalised in many scattered locales: Mauri ...

'' as flower

garland A garland is a decorative braid, knot or wreath of flowers, leaves, or other material. Garlands can be worn on the head or around the neck, hung on an inanimate object, or laid in a place of cultural or religious importance. In contemporary times ...

, especially wore by brides during traditional wedding ceremony. The flowers are similarly used in Thailand, where they are worn as traditional wedding garlands by the bride and groom. An

essential oil An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile (easily evaporated at normal temperatures) chemical compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetheroleum, or simply as the ...

is extracted from the flowers. In

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, where it is known as ''bai lan'' (白蘭), the flowers are used to prepare ''yulan''

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...

. In

traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medicine, alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. A large share of its claims are pseudoscientific, with the majority of treatments having no robust evidence ...

, the flowers are used to move '' qi'' and relieve cough.

Gallery

References

External links

Magnolia classification
from the Magnolia Society. Garden plants of Asia Ornamental trees

alba ''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English-language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed into the Kingd ...

Hybrid plants {{Magnoliales-stub