Magnolia officinalis biloba Seeds | Bilobed Magnolia
LATIN NAME: Magnolia officinalis biloba
COMMON NAME: Bilobed Magnolia
Plant Profile
Bilobed Magnolia is a deciduous tree of the magnolia family, ten to fifteen metres tall, with leaves up to fifty centimetres long whose tips are split into two lobes. The flowers are large, cream-white and fragrant, opening before the leaves in early spring, and the fruit is a cone of red seeds.
It grows in the mountains of central and eastern China, in Hubei, Sichuan, Zhejiang and neighbouring provinces, on deep, moist, acid soil in mixed forest. It is the main cultivated source of hou po, the bark used in Chinese medicine, and it has been planted for that purpose for centuries. The bark is grey and finely fissured, and on old trees it thickens into slabs that peel slowly from the trunk.
Science & Biotechnology
Magnolia officinalis is one of the Asian deciduous magnolias, closely related to M. obovata of Japan and M. tripetala of North America. The variety biloba is distinguished by the two-lobed leaf tip, and it is the form most often grown for bark production.
The bark contains honokiol and magnolol, the biphenyl neolignans that have made hou po one of the most studied Chinese herbs. Research has covered anxiolytic and antidepressant activity, neuroprotection, metabolic effects and the risk of drug interactions, and both compounds are now sold as supplements in several countries. Wild populations are smaller than the planted ones, and the species is protected in China, which is one reason cultivated bark dominates the trade.
Uses & Benefits
The bark is harvested from branches of trees at least ten years old, and it is used in decoction for abdominal fullness, cough and anxiety. The tree is also grown as an ornamental, where the huge leaves give a tropical scale to a temperate garden.
Harvest is regulated in China, and cultivated plantations now supply most of the market, which has taken pressure off wild trees. In the garden the plant is grown for its foliage and early flowers, and it needs space: the leaves are enormous and the crown is wide.
Growing from Seed
Clean the seed from the cone as soon as it splits and sow at once; drying kills it. A cool, moist period of four to six weeks improves germination, after which pots at eighteen to twenty-two degrees give seedlings in six to ten weeks.
The seedling makes a fleshy root and resents disturbance, so use a deep pot and plant out young. Give it deep, humus-rich, lime-free soil, shelter from wind and shade for the first summer. Bark harvest should wait a decade; flowers come sooner, often in the fifth year. Do not prune in spring, since the tree bleeds heavily and the wounds heal slowly.
Our Take
A medicinal tree with leaves like paddles and a flower worth waiting for. Grow it for the garden first, and let the bark be a bonus. It is also a fine shade tree for a large lawn.
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