Varieties of Magnolia grandiflora

Hello, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Our native Magnolia grandiflora is naturally a large tree, up to eighty feet tall and forty feet wide. The selections that are available now offer a variety of sizes and improved leaf color. Braken's Brown Beauty has wonderfully glossy evergreen leaves and the backs have the lovely brown velutinum coating, some think that helps prevent water loss but gardeners know it as a feature that makes these native evergreen trees even more beautiful, especially to cut and use in decorations for holidays weddings, and parties and even funeral sprays. Some other named cultivars are Teddy Bear (like "Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear") that also has that lovely velutinum on the backs of its leaves as does Kay Paris, a smaller variety named by South Carolina horticulturist Kevin Paris for his mother.