Magnolia Burgundy Star Jurmag4

The Magnolia 'Burgundy Star' is an interesting new New Zealand creation for its narrow and compact habit, perfectly suited for small gardens, and its excellent flowering. In addition to its original habit, it adds abundant flowering from a young age, with bright pink-purple star-shaped flowers, doubled with light pink and slightly fragrant. They bloom abundantly in March-April, before the leaves emerge. Provide it with a moist, neutral to acidic soil, and a sunny to semi-shaded exposure.

This Magnolia, belonging to the Magnoliaceae family, is a New Zealand horticultural creation, resulting from the cross-breeding between the Magnolia liliiflora, with lily-shaped flowers, and the 'Vulcan' cultivar, with an upright habit, appreciated for its spectacular corollas, of a rich ruby red in late winter. It is a small tree or large bush with a columnar shape, reaching a height of about 4 meters (13 feet) at maturity, with a width of 1.20 meters (4 feet). In March-April, large solitary and slightly fragrant flowers, standing at 13 cm (5in), bloom before the appearance of the leaves. Their shape resembles that of tulips with lily-shaped flowers. These widely open flowers emerge from buds protected by silky bracts and are composed of 12 waxy and thick tepals (indistinguishable sepals and petals), with a satin-like finish, opening widely in star shapes around numerous yellow stamens. Its deciduous foliage consists of obovate leaves, medium green, with a paler and finely hairy underside, turning yellow-brown in autumn, and measuring 10 to 15 cm (4 to 6 in) long.

This Magnolia, an exceptional ornamental tree, will work wonders in a small-sized garden, quickly becoming the star of the show in spring. It is most often used as a solitary specimen in the middle of a short grass meadow, where its remarkable flowering is of great effect, but during its planting, it is important to remember that once the flowering is over, it will somewhat fade into anonymity. It will therefore be advantageous to combine it with a mass of acid-loving shrubs with staggered flowering (Rhododendrons, Camellias, Hydrangeas, Witch Hazels, Pieris, Windflower Trees, Fothergilla...), for a Japanese-style garden. It is also possible to create beautiful flowering hedges along pathways, alternating this Magnolia with other cultivars (Magnolia grandiflora, Magnolia denudata, stellata, brooklyniensis...).

Anecdote:
Magnolias are ancient trees with fossils dating back more than 20 million years. Their magnificent flowering is considered one of the most primitive: their flowers are, from an evolutionary point of view, close to the first existing flowers.
The bark of magnolias has medicinal properties and is used in cosmetics.
Their wood is considered precious.

Historical:
It was named Magnolia in 1703 by Charles Plumier, botanist of King Louis XIV, thus paying tribute to the physician-botanist Pierre Magnol (1638-1715), who was one of the directors of the Botanical Garden of Montpellier at the end of the 17th century. Its specific name, soulangeana, originates from Etienne Soulange-Bodin (1774-1846), a retired cavalry officer from Napoleon's army, who dedicated himself to horticulture. In his château de Fromont, near Paris, he became passionate about Magnolias and obtained this hybrid in 1829, which today originates from a magnificent lineage of cultivars!