Image: Wikimedia Commons (See link for license)
Magnolia family🌸
Magnoliaceae
モクレン科
A family including magnolias, Kobushi magnolia, and tulip trees. Belongs to a relatively ancient lineage among angiosperms, retaining primitive features of insect-pollinated flowers (e.g., undifferentiated tepals). Fossil record extends back to the Early Cretaceous.
Key Characteristics
- ●Boundary between petals and sepals indistinct (numerous tepals)
- ●Numerous stamens and carpels arranged spirally
- ●Leaves simple, alternate
- ●Stipule scars present on leaves
Morphological Traits
A family may include species with different trait values — multiple values indicate the range within the family.
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf type
Simple
Venation
Pinnate / Palmate
Leaf margin
Entire
Growth form
Shrub / Tree
Evergreen/Deciduous
Evergreen / Deciduous
Leaf dissection
Dissected / Undivided
Stipules
Present
Aromatic
Aromatic / None
Flower symmetry
Actinomorphic
Petal count
6 petals / Many
Petal fusion
Free
Ovary position
Superior
Plant sex
Hermaphrodite / Monoecious
Phylogenetic Position
Angiosperms > Magnoliids > Magnoliales > Magnoliaceae
Divergence Era
Early Cretaceous (approx. 100 million years ago onward)
Representative Genera
Related Evolution Events
- ・Beetle pollination (cantharophily) as a primitive floral adaptation
- ・Diverged during the early diversification of angiosperms