magnolia

Magnolia, city, United States

Magnolia (măgnō`lyə), city (1990 pop. 11,151), seat of Columbia co., SW Ark.; inc. 1855. Its oil industry has been important since 1938. Metal products, apparel, chemicals, and lumber are also produced. Southern Arkansas Univ. is there.

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magnolia, in botany

magnolia, common name for plants of the genus Magnolia, and for the Magnoliaceae, a family of deciduous or evergreen trees and shrubs, often with showy flowers. They are principally of north temperate regions with centers of distribution in Asia and E North America. Among the few native American species of the chiefly Asian genus Magnolia are the deciduous umbrella tree (M. tripetala); the cucumber tree (M. acuminata), named for the appearance of its unripe fruits; the evergreen sweet, or swamp, bay (M. virginiana); and the bull bay, or Southern magnolia (M. grandiflora), with enormous blossoms resembling water lilies. Many imported magnolias are also cultivated in the South, as are several species of the Asian genus Michelia. The only other member of the family native to North America is the tulip tree or tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipfera), named for the tuliplike shape of its greenish-yellow, orange-centered blossoms. The tulip tree, relic of a past geological era when it was widespread throughout North America and Europe, now grows only in the E United States and in China. Its yellowish softwood, prized for cabinetwork and furniture, is commonly called yellow poplar, canary wood, or whitewood. The magnolia family is considered one of the most primitive group of angiosperms. The magnolia family is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Magnoliales.

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magnolia

Any of about 80 species of trees and shrubs in the genus Magnolia, native to North and Central America, the Himalayas, and East Asia. They are valued for their fragrant flowers and handsome leaves. Magnolia is one of 12 genera in the family Magnoliaceae, which contains 210 species. Magnolias are among the most primitive of flowering plants; their primitive features include long floral axes, spiral arrangement of flower parts, and simple water-conducting cells.

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magnolia

of Louisiana and Mississippi. [Flower Symbolism: Golenpaul, 632]

See : Flower, State

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magnolia

symbol of magnificence. [Flower Symbolism: Flora Symbolica, 175]

See : Splendor