It is a
deciduous tree growing to 20 m in height. The
bark is thick and brown, but does not fissure. The
leaves are broad, ovate, 20–40 cm long, and 11–20 cm broad. The
flowers are fragrant and 10–15 cm wide, with 9–12 (rarely to 17) white
tepals, and appear from May to June. The two
varieties are: •
Magnolia officinalis var.
officinalis has leaves with an acute apex. •
Magnolia officinalis var.
biloba has leaves with a notch at the apex. This variety does not appear in the wild, and is only known in cultivation. It is possibly not a true variety at all, but actually a
cultigen instead, though this has yet to be determined.
M. officinalis differs very little from
Magnolia obovata; the only difference consistently observed between the two is that the fruit aggregate of
M. officinalis has a rounded base, while that of
M. obovata has an acute base. Further research may or may not eventually determine if
M. officinalis should be treated as a
subspecies of
M. obovata. ==Uses==