Evergreen Sweetbay Magnolia is a reliably evergreen native tree with woolly flower stems and new growth.  Its large cup-shaped white flowers that have a sweet lemon scent bloom in mid spring and sporadically through summer.  Grows best in full sun and moist to wet well-drained acidic soil.  

Magnolia virginiana is a host plant for the Tiger, Spicebush, and Palamedes Swallowtail butterflies as well as the Sweetbay Silkmoth.  The seeds, sap, and nectar of attracts pollinators and small mammals as well. 

MAINTENANCE NEEDS:  Low Maintenance. Regular water in first year.

LANDSCAPE USES: Specimen or Group Plantings, Borders, Woodland Gardens, Privacy Screen, and Foundation Plantings.

COMPANION PLANTS: Gibraltar Azalea, Oakleaf Hydrangea, Gardenia Radicans

IMAGES:  Plant Image Library, Magnolia virginiana var. australis (Sweetbay Magnolia) (36279091321), CC BY-SA 2.0, (2) Photo by David J. Stang, Magnolia virginiana var. australis 5zz, CC BY-SA 4.0, (3) Plant Image Library, Magnolia virginiana var. australis (Sweet-bay Magnolia) (32122860713), CC BY-SA 2.0, (4) Plant Image Library from Boston, USA, Magnolia virginiana var. australis (Sweetbay Magnolia) (36415538275), CC BY-SA 2.0, (5) 

 *As plants have ranges in appearance they may not appear as the images shown.