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Descriptions and Illustrations
- Southern Illinois University Press
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Descriptions and Illustrations Order Annonales Thorne (1968), whose system of classification is being followed in The Illustrated Flora, considers the Annonales to be the most primitive of all extant flowering plants. Of the twenty-four families assigned to this order by Thorne, only six occur in Illinois, and one of them is introduced. Most of the other families are tropical, which is to be expected if it is believed that the very primitive angiosperms were tropical. The families of the order Annonales, in the sequence that they will be considered, are the Magnoliaceae, Annonaceae , Aristolochiaceae, Calycanthaceae, Lauraceae, and Saururaceae . MAGNOLIACEAE-MAGNOLIA FAMILY Trees or occasionally shrubs with alternate, simple leaves; stipules present; flowers usually solitary, perfect, actinomorphic; sepals and petals usually undifferentiated, free, often indefinite in number, usually spirally arranged; stamens numerous, free, spirally arranged ; pistils numerous, usually free and crowded together on a receptacle; fruit usually a "cone." This family, considered to be one of the most primitive of flowering plants, is composed of about a dozen genera. KEY TO THE GENERA OF Magnoliaceae IN ILLINOIS 1. Leaves entire; petals without an orange blotch at the base within; seeds unwinged ___________________________________ 1. Magnolia 1. Leaves 4-lobed; petals with an orange blotch at the base within; seeds winged __________________________________ 2. Liriodendron 1. Magnolia L.-Magnolia Trees or occasionally shrubs with alternate, simple leaves, the leaf buds enclosed by the stipules; inflorescence of large, solitary flowers ; flowers perfect; calyx and corolla usually similar in color, spirally arranged, composed of 3 free sepals and 0-9 free petals; sta6 Magnoliaceae-Magnoiia Family I 7 mens numerous, usually with enlarged anthers and very short filaments; pistils many, usually borne spirally on an elongated receptacle ; fruit a fleshy or dry "cone," with 1-2 berrylike seeds per carpel, hanging from slender threads. Magnolias are thought to represent some of the most primitive flowering plants in the world by virtue of their numerous, free, spirally arranged parts and their enlarged anthers which open inward . Most members of this genus have large, showy flowers and make splendid ornamentals. Many species, varieties, and hybrids are in cultivation in Illinois. Particularly common in cultivation in southern Illinois are the saucer magnolia (Magnolia soulangeana) and the southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora). Only a single native species occurs in Illinois. 1. Magnolia acuminata L. Syst. Nat. ed. 10, 2: 1082. 1759. Fig. 1. Tree to 30 m tall, with a trunk diameter up to 1 m and with a pyramidal crown; twigs stout, lustrous, reddish-brown; buds densely silky-hairy, 1.0-1.5 cm long; leaves alternate, simple, entire or slightly wavy along the margin, somewhat pubescent on the lower surface, oblong, broadest at or below the middle, short-acuminate at apex, cuneate at base, up to 25 cm long; flowers 4.0-6.5 cm across; sepals 3, greenish, smaller than the petals; petals 6-9, greenish-yellow, to 7 cm long, oblanceolate; stamens numerous; pistils numerous, free; fruiting "cone" 4-7 cm long, greenish at first, consisting of a cluster of coriaceous, dark red follicles; seeds 1-2 per follicle, bright red, suspended on a thread. COMMON NAME: Cucumber Tree; Cucumber Magnolia. HABITAT: Rich hardwood forests. RANGE: New York to Ontario, south to Louisiana and Georgia. ILLINOIS DISTRIBUTION: Confined to the southern two tiers of counties in Illinois and Jackson County. The leaves of the cucumber tree somewhat resemble those of the tupelo (Nyssa aquatica) and the sour gum (Nyssa sylvatica), but differ by the presence of stipules. They also differ from the tupelo by their shorter petioles, and from the sour gum by their greater size of the blades. The greenish-yellow flowers appear in early May and last only for a very short time. The fruits, which resemble small cucumbers [3.237.51.235] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 10:42 GMT) 8 / MAGNOLIAS TO PITCHER PLANTS 1. Magnolia acuminata (Cucumber Magnolia). a. Flowering branch, XV2. when immature, ripen their seeds in September. In Illinois, cucumber tree is limited to rich hardwood forests where it is commonly associated with beech, tulip tree, and sugar maple. Vasey (1870) was apparently the first to attribute this species to Illinois. Magnoliaceae-Magnolia Family I 9 2. Liriodendron L.-Tulip Tree Tall trees with alternate, simple, lobed leaves, the leaf buds covered by leathery scales and subtended by large stipules; inflorescence of large, solitary flowers; flowers perfect; sepals 3, reflexed; petals 6, free, in two rows; stamens numerous; pistils numerous, free, borne on an elongated receptacle; fruit a dry...