Accepted name: Magnolia sargentiana
This variety flowers before the species (which is relatively rare in cultivation). Upright multistemmed shrub or tree. Branches thin and flexible. Leaves mostly 15-20 cm long, broad, sometimes notched at the tip, mostly widest above the centre. Flowers before the leaves, exceptionally large (sometimes to 30 cm wide), pendent; early spring.
W China
Flowers hanging, opening downwards.
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.
Magnolia sargentiana var. robusta 'Caerhays Belle'
(m. sargentiana var. robusta × m. sprengeri var. diva) Tall growing but soon flowering. Flowers prolific, sweetly scented, segments 12, broad, spoon-shaped, salmon pink and with wavy edges. Anthers with carmine tips. Raised by the head gardener at Caerhays Castle, Cornwall, uk in 1951.
Magnolia sargentiana var. robusta 'Phillip Tregunna'
(m. sargentiana var. robusta × m. campbellii) Flowers extremely large with good form and vibrant purple colouring on both surfaces of segments. Upright plant flowering after 4 years. ComÃÂÂmemorating the gardener of Caerhays Castle.
