Shrub to 5 m tall. Branchlets hairy, often zig-zag. Stipules brown hairy and joined to leaf stalk for most of their length. Leaves hairless, elliptic, 4.5-6.5 cm long, 2-3 cm wide, vein pairs 9-12. Leaf stalk 3-5 mm long. Flowers purplish in se Australia, perianth segments 6, each about 2 cm long, strongly fragrant with a smell that can be detected at a distance and which is variously described as reminiscent of port wine, bananas or pear drops; spring to summer. Carpels to 15 on a stalk that is up to 1 cm long. [m. fuscata Andr.]

China, Malesia

Widely cultivated in its native countries and the most commonly cul­tivated variety in SE Australia.

Flowers for perfuming tea; leaves for volatile oils and medicinal purposes.

var. crassipes (Law) B.L. Chen &Nooteboom. This is the commonly cultivated variety with purplish flowers. [M. crassipes Law]

var. figo Perianth yellow with purplish edges, segments larger than the above variety.

Source: Spencer, R. (1997). Magnoliaceae. In: Spencer, R.. 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.