Lily Magnolia               mag-NO-li-a li-le-i-FLO-ra

• Deciduous tree/shrub, 8-12 ft (2.5-3 m), sprawling, multi-stemmed, very shrub-like.  Leaves alternate, simple, obovate to elliptic-ovate, 10-18 cm long, 5-13 cm wide, dark green above, lighter below and finely pubescent on slender veins.  Foliage may look ragged by fall. Blooms with or just before leaves appear.  Flowers are upright, 9 petals, pointed, purple outside and white inside, some cultivars have pink flowers.
• Sun.  Takes 4-5 years to bloom.  Several cultivars; ‘Nigra’ and ‘O'Neil’ are popular.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 5      Native to Eastern China, but now unknown in wild.
• liliiflora: with flowers like Lilium (lily).
• Oregon State Univ. campus: front of Hovland Hall, (possibly a cultivar, not species type).