Magnolia fraseri Walter
Ear-leaved umbrella tree, fraser magnolia, mountain magnolia
The large leaves of this tree, radiating in a whorl from a leaf tip, are shaped so they just overlap each other, creating the “umbrellas.” They also have “ear lobes” at the base. Fraser magnolias are native to the southeastern United States.
Plants: Trees reach 46′ (14 m) (max 73′ (22 m)), often with multiple trunks or low branches. Trunks are up to 2′ (60 cm) in diameter. Bark is fairly smooth and gray, covered with small wartlike lenticels.
Leaves: 6–10 ⨉ 3–7″ (15–25 ⨉ 8–18 cm) (max about double that), with smooth edges, green above, bluish green below, and unusually shaped.
Flowers: 6–10″ (16–25 cm) in diameter, composed of nine spoon-like tepals, cream-colored. The flowers are said to smell like a “wet goat.”
Fruits: In the center of each flower is a woody, cone-shaped fruit, 2½–4½″ (6.5–12 cm) long. The cone tips produce red fruits.
Habitats: The native range is rich, moist habitats in the Appalacians.
From the USDA Plants Database, Britton, Nathaniel Lord, and Brown, Addison, An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions, 1913, p. Vol. 2: 81. 
From Curtis’s Botanical Magazine; or flower garden displayed. London, 1809, volume 30 (plate 1206). Hand-coloured engraving by Francis Sansom after Sydenham Teast Edwards. 
Probably Magnolia fraseri fruit. By Steven J. Baskauf, Ph.D. at Vanderbilt University. 
Online References:
9/14/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 15 × 10″ (39 × 26 cm) 
9/14/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 1½ × 1′ (52 × 34 cm) 
5/22/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 6½ × 4′ (2.0 × 1.3 m) 
9/14/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 2 × 1′ (62 × 41 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Magnoliidae | Includes magnolias, nutmeg, bay laurel, cinnamon, avocado, black pepper, and many others |
| Order | Magnoliales | Includes the custard apple family, magnolia family, nutmeg family, and others |
| Family | Magnoliaceae | Magnolia family |
| Genus | Magnolia | Named for French botanist Pierre Magnol |
| Species | fraseri | For British plant collector John Fraser, who arranged publication of Thomas Walter’s Flora Caroliniana |
Magnolia fraseri description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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