Magnolia kobus - Van den Berk on Trees

A medium sized tree with a crown that is upright pyramidal and closed at first. As the branches start to droop with age the crown eventually becomes spreading ovoid. Width circa 8 m. The smooth and bare branches have woolly-haired leaf buds. The leaf, which is short acuminate and obovate, turns yellow in autumn. Before the leaf appears this tree produces white, completely open flowers. These are circa 10 cm across. A late night frost may damage the flowers. At a young age M. kobus does not flower profusely, but when mature it is an abundantly flowering tree. Seedlings can take longer to come into flowering. After the flowers dark red receptacles appear. When ripening the pink-red seeds come out. The fleshy roots grow both shallow and deep.