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Magnolia acuminata
Also called Cucumber-tree, Mountain Magnolia, Yellow Cucumbertree, Cucumbertree, Indian Bitter
A large, cold-hardy forest tree native to eastern North America, usually grown as a shade tree in parks and large gardens. It needs room to grow, since it is not suited to street planting.
Magnolia acuminata, commonly called the cucumber tree (often spelled as a single word "cucumbertree"), cucumber magnolia or blue magnolia, is one of the largest magnolias, and one of the cold-hardiest. It is a large forest tree of the Eastern United States and Southern Ontario in Canada. It is a tree that tends to occur singly as scattered specimens, rather than in groves.
The cucumber tree is native primarily within the Appalachian belt, including the Allegheny Plateau and Cumberland Plateau, up to western Pennsylvania and New York. There are also numerous disconnected outlying populations through much of the southeastern U.S., and a few small populations in Southern Ontario. In Canada, the cucumber tree is listed as an endangered species and is protected under the Canadian Species at Risk Act.
Cucumber trees are excellent shade trees for parks and gardens, though they are not recommended for use as street trees. In cultivation, they typically only grow 15–20 m (49–66 ft) tall, although they reach over 30 m (98 ft) in ideal forest situations. They can become quite massive: the United States national (and presumed world) champion in Stark County, Ohio measures eight feet (2.4 m) in diameter and 96 ft (29 m) tall. They grow best in deep, moist, well-drained soils that are slightly acidic although they are tolerant of alkaline soils.
They are tricky to transplant due to their coarse, fleshy root system and should be planted shallow and moved in early spring with a good soil ball.
Magnolia amazonica · Tianmu Magnolia · Magnolia aromatica · Ashe's Magnolia · Magnolia biondii · Magnolia sumatrana var. glauca · Magnolia boliviana · Magnolia calimaensis · Magnolia calophylla · Campbell's Magnolia · Magnolia cararensis · Magnolia caricifragrans
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Magnolia acuminata by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
