# Cucumber Magnolia (Magnolia acuminata)

> The hardiest and largest native magnolia, a fast-growing shade tree with cucumber-shaped fruit that ripens to red.

Also called cucumbertree, cucumber tree. Category: Uncommon Yard Trees. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/cucumber-magnolia/

![Cucumber magnolia (Magnolia acuminata) large leaves and the green, cucumber-shaped fruit](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/cucumber-magnolia-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: Katherine Wagner-Reiss, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Magnolia_acuminata-_cucumber_magnolia-fruit.jpg)*

## Facts

- Type: Large tree
- Mature height: 50 to 80 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 3 to 8
- Grows wild in: Rich moist slopes and the Appalachians
- Native range: 20 states, north to [New York](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NY), south to [Florida](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=FL) and west to [Oklahoma](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OK) ([Alabama](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AL), [Arkansas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AR), [Florida](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=FL), [Georgia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=GA), [Illinois](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IL), [Indiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IN), [Kentucky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KY), [Louisiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=LA), [Maryland](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MD), [Mississippi](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MS), [Missouri](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MO), [New York](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NY), [North Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NC), [Ohio](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OH), [Oklahoma](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OK), [Pennsylvania](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=PA), [South Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SC), [Tennessee](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TN), [Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VA) and [West Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WV)). Also recorded, not native, in [Connecticut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CT), [Massachusetts](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MA) and [New Jersey](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NJ)
- Sun: Full, Part
- Soil moisture: Average
- Growth rate: Fast
- Flowers: April to July
- Fruit: Cones, August to September
- First crop: About 30 years (a seedling may bloom at 12 or more)
- Mature spread: 60 ft
- Traits: Showy flowers, Rare, Wildlife value, Fall color
- Sold as: Saplings, Seed

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

## Availability

Saplings ship [in a pot](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/a-sapling-in-a-pot/index.html.md), [usually 12 to 18 inches tall](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/small-sapling-or-big-transplant/index.html.md), in the dormant season, and their [height and age](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/reading-a-nursery-listing/index.html.md) are stated with the price, once available. Live plants ship February to May and October to November. Not priced yet: leave an email on the web page for one email when it is priced, with a code for 10% off the plants in that order, not shipping or tax, or write to captain@bluewhaletrees.com.

## Notes

Cucumber magnolia grows into a tall, straight forest tree with a pyramidal crown and huge leaves. Its greenish-yellow spring flowers are modest, but the knobbly fruit turns scarlet in late summer and birds feast on the seeds. Perfect for a big lawn that lost an ash and wants a fast native shade tree.

## Size, growth and what to expect

At maturity a cucumber magnolia stands 60 to 80 feet with a trunk about 2 feet through, and it can reach 100 feet on the deep soils of a mountain cove. It grows fast, nearly three feet a year in its youth on an average site, the rate our growth estimator uses for a fast tree.

A seedling may take 12 or more years to bloom, and seed bearing begins at about 30 years. The heaviest crops come after 50, with a good one every 4 to 5 years. The greenish-yellow flowers are 2 to 4 inches long. The knobby fruit is 2 to 3 inches long and holds 10 to 60 red seeds that grackles, blackbirds and small mammals clean out. The tree seldom lives more than 150 years, though the oldest known, dated by its rings, reached 520. It flowers between early April and early July, depending on location.

It grows wild on cool moist mountain sites from western New York and southern Ontario southwest to Indiana, Missouri and Louisiana, and east to northwest Florida and Georgia. In the mountains it runs north to Pennsylvania.

## How to grow Cucumber Magnolia

Cucumber magnolia takes full sun or part shade and wants deep, average soil that drains but holds moisture through summer. This is a forest tree with a spreading crown, so plant it 40 feet from the house and clear of wires, where it will never need cutting back. Set trees 35 feet apart.

Saplings ship potted, with the root ball whole. Plant while dormant, and if you have the choice, plant at the end of winter rather than in fall, since the thick, fleshy roots heal slowly in cold ground. Dig wide and no deeper than the roots, keep the root flare at grade, use the soil you dug, and mulch a wide ring off the trunk. Clean the pulp from the red seed, sow it in fall, and never let it dry.

Water through the first two summers. Mulch instead of cultivating, because surface roots damage easily. Rabbits and deer browse young trees, so cage the stem for the first few years and prune as little as possible.

A lone cucumber magnolia sets less seed than trees that can cross with a neighbor, so plant two or more seedlings if you want seed. The greenish flowers sit high in the crown and are easy to miss, and a seedling takes many years to bloom. The knobby fruit reddens in late summer and birds clear the seeds quickly.

## Sources

- [USDA Forest Service, Silvics of North America: cucumbertree](https://research.fs.usda.gov/silvics/cucumbertree)
- [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Magnolia acuminata](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/magnolia-acuminata/)
- [The Morton Arboretum: cucumbertree](https://mortonarb.org/plant-and-protect/trees-and-plants/cucumbertree/)
- [Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder: Magnolia acuminata](https://plantfinder.mobot.org/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=a881)
- [USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: Magnolia acuminata, MAAC](https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/plant-profile/MAAC)
- [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Magnolia chapter](https://rngr.net/publications/wpsm/genera/m/at_download/file)
- [Missouri Department of Conservation field guide: Cucumber Magnolia](https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/cucumber-magnolia)
- [Virginia Tech Dendrology: cucumbertree, Magnolia acuminata](https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=55)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Magnolia acuminata](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=MAAC)
- [Flora of North America, vol. 3: Magnolia acuminata](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233500766)
- [UF/IFAS EDIS: Magnolia acuminata, Cucumbertree, ENH-528/ST369, Gilman and Watson](https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/ST369)
- [Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources: Recovery Strategy for Cucumber Tree (Magnolia acuminata) in Ontario, 2010, adopting the federal strategy of 2007](https://files.ontario.ca/environment-and-energy/species-at-risk/stdprod_066830.pdf)
- [NatureServe Explorer: Magnolia acuminata](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.156102/Magnolia_acuminata)
- [Virginia Tech Dendrology, Eastern OLDLIST of maximum tree ages (Neil Pederson): Magnolia acuminata, cucumbertree](https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/olds/detail.cfm?genus=Magnolia&species=acuminata)
- [Virginia Tech Dendrology, Eastern OLDLIST of maximum tree ages (Neil Pederson): Magnolia acuminata filed as Magnolia accuminata, cucumbertree](https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/olds/detail.cfm?genus=Magnolia&species=accuminata)
- [Di Filippo, Pederson, Baliva and others 2015, The longevity of broadleaf deciduous trees in Northern Hemisphere temperate forests: insights from tree-ring series, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 3: 46](https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2015.00046)

## Read before planting

- [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md)
- [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md)
- [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md)
- [Native trees for the Southern Appalachians: the valleys, the slopes and the high ridges](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-the-southern-appalachians/index.html.md)
- [Six trees not to plant near a house, and what to plant instead](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/trees-not-to-plant-near-a-house/index.html.md)
- [A tree dripping sap, sticky drops or white foam: honeydew, slime flux and bleeding wounds](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/a-tree-dripping-sap-or-foam/index.html.md)

## Related

- We grow 7 other magnolias (Magnolia): [all of them](https://bluewhaletrees.com/shop/index.html.md?q=magnolia)
- Plants that share its sun and soil: [Yellow Buckeye](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/yellow-buckeye/index.html.md), [American Beech](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-beech/index.html.md), [Northern Red Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/northern-red-oak/index.html.md) and [Red Hickory](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/red-hickory/index.html.md)
- Under its canopy: [Pagoda Dogwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/pagoda-dogwood/index.html.md), [Roseshell Azalea](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/roseshell-azalea/index.html.md) and [Umbrella Magnolia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/umbrella-magnolia/index.html.md)
- Same size, similar character: [Southern Magnolia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/southern-magnolia/index.html.md), [Mockernut Hickory](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/mockernut-hickory/index.html.md), [Oglethorpe Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/oglethorpe-oak/index.html.md) and [American Basswood (Linden)](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-basswood/index.html.md)
- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Cucumber Magnolia, add ?species=cucumber-magnolia with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address; for example, the verdict for zone 3, part sun and average soil as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=cucumber-magnolia&zone=3&sun=part&moisture=average
- [Companion species for Cucumber Magnolia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=cucumber-magnolia): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard.
- [Transplant planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=cucumber-magnolia): whether Cucumber Magnolia can be moved and what the move takes, the root ball, its weight, who can move it and the months, as Markdown at that address (add caliper= or height=, month= 1 to 12 and soil= sandy, loam or clay)
- [Tree growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate for Cucumber Magnolia as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=cucumber-magnolia (add height=, years= and site= poor, average or good)
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Cucumber Magnolia is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan for it as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=cucumber-magnolia (add state= and zone= for your own frost dates, method=fridge for the refrigerator route)
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Cucumber Magnolia needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the verdict for 2 of them as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=cucumber-magnolia:2
- [Planting-window tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md): when to plant Cucumber Magnolia where you live, as a fall and a spring window from the local frost dates; the windows as Markdown are at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=cucumber-magnolia&state=MO&zone=6 with your own state and zone in place of those
- [Planting-distance tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md): how far Cucumber Magnolia goes from a house, a septic field, a walk, wires, a property line and the next tree; the distances as Markdown are at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=cucumber-magnolia&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Cucumber Magnolia flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species; its own row and the gaps of a planting with it as Markdown at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=cucumber-magnolia