Conical shrub or occasionally small tree. Branchlets whip-like, hairless. Leaves mostly ovate to lanceolate, 7-12 cm long, pointed, base rounded or tapering, bluish below, vein pairs 10-12. Leaf stalk 1-2 cm long. Flowers appearing before the leaves, white, fragrant, sepals 3, shorter than the 6 petals which are 5-6 cm long; early spring. Fruit cylindrical, green to pink and purplish black. m. ×proctoriana Rehder is a putative hybrid between m. salicifolia and m. stellata. However, it may well lie within the range of variation of m. salicifolia and is therefore better placed in synonymy. M. cylindrica e.h. Wilson from China is occasionally cultivated; it is a smallish deciduous tree with erect, vase-shaped flowers that appear before the leaves; segments 9, the 6 inner ones white with slight pink colourings, the outer 3 sepal-like, brown and papery; fruits cylindrical.
Japan
Leaves ovate-lanceolate, bluish below.
Source: (1997). Magnoliaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 2. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 1. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
