It hard to miss this fine tree that produces 2 to 4 inch slightly-fragrant, greenish-yellow, tulip-like flowers at the twig tips in late Spring. Handsome at close range, they are borne so high on the tree that they are sometimes missed.
Cucumber Magnolia a large forest tree of the Eastern United States and Southern Ontario in Canada that tends to occur singly as scattered specimens, rather than in groves.
Its flower buds and flowers are edible and may have provided a minor food source to First Nations and white settlers.
This tree’s bark is smooth and pale gray on a young tree, becoming brown, deeply furrowed, and ridged on mature trees. One of the fastest-growing Magnolias, Cucumber Magnolia is pyramidal when young but becomes broad, oval or rounded with age, ultimately it can reach 60 to 80 feet in height with a spread of 35 to 60 feet.
Cucumber Magnolia is named for the green, warty, cucumber-shaped fruits that follow the flowers, which turn from green to red and then open to reveal small red seeds in late Summer. This fruit becomes forage for Towhees, other ground-feeding birds and small mammals.
Its foliage of huge, ovate, deep green leaves, up to 10 inches long, has nice yellow-gold Fall color.
These trees cast dense shade, and are beautifully symmetrical making them a park, residential and golf course tree of preference.