Tree Identification?

[KD_Olive]

I have wild rhododendrons in my yard, but the leaves are no where near this big, and as stated above, they have buds in the center...

My parents have tons of these in the woods around their house, along huge with Southern Magnolias. So my wild guess is a juvenile Southern Magnolia. But I'm strictly guessing!

 

[aftermidnight]

I'll throw another one in the ring, the leaves look similar to the Umbrella Magnoia (Magnolia tripetala), not saying it is tho, just another guess.

 

[Devonviolet]

BINGO Annette! (@aftermidnight) and @thistlebloom!

It is indeed an Umbrella Magnolia!

When we lived in PA, one of my favorite places to go, to take photos, was the Asa Packer Mansion, in Jim Thorpe, PA (in the Pocono Mountains).

On the hill, in front of the house, was a dying Umbrella Magnolia, that is probably over 100 years old. Its been a while since I did the research. But, if memory serves me, the tree was imported to the Packer Estate, from Florida, by Packer's adult daughter, Mary, when she moved back to the mansion after Asa Packer died.

Here are some of the photos I took at the mansion:

This shows a new cluster of leaves, in the Spring, before the flower bud started to form.

This is the gorgeous blossom, taken during a Summer visit.

These three photos were taken from the veranda, across the front of the house.

I think I have a photo, taken from ground level. But, it might be in a photo album on my desktop computer, and I can't get into it right now. I will try to do that tomorrow.

 

[Devonviolet]

I found 2 more photos. The first one is another shot of one of the Umbrella Tree's spectacular blossoms.

The second photo shows the 100+ year old tree. It's obvious that the tree is dying, because of the hollowed out trunk, from the wood rotting away. You can see it has been heavily pruned over the years. It's amazing the tree is standing, and there are leaves on the tree. In fact, it is most likely it is no longer standing, since it has probably been 3 years since I saw the tree.

 

[Devonviolet]

Not having had formal education in botany, I tend not to look at botanical names (genus & species), when looking at names of plants. Although, I do see the benefit of doing that.

While looking back at @aftermidnight & @thistlebloom 's comments, it finally registered that they both referred to the Umbrella Magnolia as "Magnolia tripetala".

I thought maybe I should look that up, to see if it was, indeed the same tree as the one I was referencing, at the Asa Packer Mansion, in PA. Here is what I found:

http://www.alabamaplants.com/Whitealt/Magnolia_tripetala_page.html

"The species epithet tripetala derives from the Latin "tri" meaning "three" and the Greek "petal" meaning "a leaf, flat, spread-out." The name means "with three petals" and probably refers to the sepals of the flower."

The flower of the Magnolia tripetala, has longer, thinner petals, than the blossoms on the tree, at the Asa Packer mansion.

So, I did some research and found the Magnolia macrophylla.

Which does look more like my photos.

http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=a884#AllImages

The info I found indicates the tree blooms in the Spring (April/May?) It will be interesting to see what the blossoms look like. Since the Magnolia tripetala is indigenous to Alabama, I suspect @HomesteaderWife 's tree will be Magnolia tripetala. But, it has been fun posting my photos of the Magnolia macrophylla.

Also interesting to note. When I did my original research, I found the common name "Umbrella Magnolia". The info at the Missouri Botanical Gardens calls it "Bigleaf Magnolia".

 

[Devonviolet]

After posting the above info, I was thinking that Magnolia macrophylla sounded familiar.

Then it occurred to me. DUH! We used to go to The National Arboritum in Washington, DC and spend hours wandering around taking photos of the gorgeous plants.

I have some really nice photos of what looks like a gorgeous large: Magnolia macrophylla blossom! However, the leaves aren't as long as the leaves at the Asa Packer mansion

Here are 2 if my favorites:

 

[Carol Dee]

WOW I love those photos, especially the one with the 2 bees.

 

[ninnymary]

Definitely a POW picture!

Mary

 

[Devonviolet]

WOW I love those photos, especially the one with the 2 bees.

I had so much fun taking these photos! I think I made a total of 5 or 6 trips to the Arboretum. It is an awesome place!

This particular day, it had rained the night before. It was 9:00 am with a light rain falling. I was so intent on the gorgeous blossoms, I hardly noticed the rain.

 

[aftermidnight]

Great pics .
Annette