| Author | Michaux | |
| Distribution | Formerly limited to the Piedmont, and mainly to the south-central Piedmont, centered on Gaston County -– which has most of the state’s population. Nearby county records from Mecklenburg County ("rich woods Charlotte") and Rowan County ("near Salisbury") lack details to be convincing as natural. Outlier county records from Wake (Lake Johnson), Surry (NCNHP), and Henderson ("climax forest elevation 2000 feet") require field work to determine natural status. One can certainly question whether outlier records are of planted individuals, though the Wake site (Lake Johnson forests) has been present for over 70 years. Other records from Buncombe, Cumberland, Jackson, Mecklenburg, and Orange counties are from cultivated trees. However, in fall 2024, Alan Smith found a population in almost certainly natural habitat in Madison County, our first record for the Mountains (at least once documentation is received).
This is primarily a species of the Cumberland Mountains and Plateau region, and extending southward to the Gulf Coastal Plain. It is very scarce in the Appalachians and eastward. It ranges from southwestern VA and southern OH south to southern AL and northern LA. | |
| Abundance | Uncommon but surprisingly widespread in Gaston County, but very rare and local north to Lincoln and Iredell counties; apparently not yet confirmed (at least as native) in neighboring and well-worked Mecklenburg and Rowan counties. Outlier records east to Wake, north to Surry, and west to Henderson counties, are of uncertain provenance. Extremely rare in the Mountains, at low elevations. Despite numerous records -– mostly in Gaston and Iredell counties — this is a State Special Concern species. | |
| Habitat | In NC, it occurs in mesic to fairly rich hardwood forests, mainly on slopes. These are mostly in Mesic Mixed Hardwood Forest natural community, but some populations, at least in Gaston County, lie over mafic rocks and thus are probably on Basic Mesic Forest or Basic Oak-Hickory Forest. In its main range, it occurs mainly over sandstone in ravines, or in mesic hammocks. |
| Phenology | Blooms in May and June, and fruits from July to August. | |
| Identification | This might be the state’s most spectacular tree, at least deciduous tree. It has, by far, the largest simple leaves, and probably the largest flowers, of any hardwood. It is a small to rarely medium tree, growing to about 40 feet tall, with relatively few (but stout) branches. When in leaf it is hard to overlook, owing to the auricled (ear-lobed) leaf bases and the huge obovate leaves that average 15-20 inches long! As the undersides are whitish, when the leaves fall in late summer, it looks like untidy newspapers have been scattered on the forest floor! The flowers are huge, as well; the white petals -- about 7 inches long, are often spreading, so that the open flowers are over 1 foot wide. Despite the huge leaves and flowers, the species has to be carefully separated from the much more numerous Umbrella Magnolia (M. tripetala). Both species have leaves concentrated at the branch tips, almost whorled. This can make it hard to see the base of the leaf – tapered in Umbrella and ear-lobed in Bigleaf. Also, the flowers are often difficult to see, as they are perched on top of the branch tips, at the bases of the whorled leaves. You often have to be on a ridge above the flowers to see them at all! Unless you have spent time in Gaston County, where there are many locations (for unknown reasons), you will need to go to known locations, as this species is so obvious that you are not likely to find a new location for it. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | None relating to NC, but Ashe Magnolia (M. ashei), found in Gulf Coast states, is sometimes merged into M. macrophylla.
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| Other Common Name(s) | None | |
| State Rank | S2 | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | SC-V | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | | |
| USACE-emp | | |
