Magnolia virginiana
Sweetbay
Please register or login to build your personal plant list.Sweetbay is a wildlife-friendly magnolia, native to New Jersey. This small, semi-evergreen, flowering tree offers creamy-white, waxy flowers,...
Description:
Sweetbay is a wildlife-friendly magnolia, native to New Jersey. This small, semi-evergreen, flowering tree offers creamy-white, waxy flowers, May-June. Cone-like fruits with red seeds mature in fall and are valued as a food source by wildlife. Sweetbay is a host plant for larvae (caterpillars) of the beautiful Sweetbay Silkmoth (Callosamia securifera). It prefers moist, acidic, organic soils, but will tolerate wet, boggy areas, heavy clay, and sandy loam. Use Sweetbay as a specimen tree in your yard, along borders, around foundations, along woodland edges, or in your rain garden.
Plant Details:
Other Common Names: Sweetbay Magnolia
Plant Type: Tree
New Jersey Native: Yes
Bloom Times: Late Spring to Early Summer
Bloom Colors: White
Deer Resistance: Some
Attracts Pollinators and Wildlife: Butterflies, Birds
Salt Tolerance: Medium
Hardiness Zone: 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b
Physiographic Region: Piedmont - P, Coastal Plain - CP
Grows in Special Ecoregions: Barrier Island/Coastal, Pinelands
Soil Characteristics
Soil Type: Loam, Organic, Sandy, Clay
Soil Moisture: Dry, Moist
Soil pH: Acidic, Slightly Acidic
Light Needs of Plant
Optimal Light: Partial Shade
Light Range: Full Sun, Partial Shade
Water Needs of Plant
Soil Moisture: Dry, Moist
Drought Tolerance: None
Size and Growth Rate
Height: 10 - 20 ft
Spread: 10 - 20 ft
Growth Rate: Medium-fast