# Fraser Magnolia (Magnolia fraseri) > An Appalachian magnolia with creamy flowers 8 to 10 inches across set in whorls of big, ear-lobed leaves, and rosy red cones in late summer. Also called mountain magnolia, earleaf cucumbertree, earleaf magnolia, Magnolia auriculata. Category: Uncommon Yard Trees. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/fraser-magnolia/ ![Fraser magnolia (Magnolia fraseri) creamy white flower in the center of a whorl of large leaves](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/fraser-magnolia-h1610-800.jpg) *Photo: Richtid, CC BY-SA 3.0 ยท [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AMagnoliafraseri_rt2.jpg)* ## Facts - Type: Medium tree - Mature height: 30 to 50 ft - USDA hardiness zones: 5 to 9 - Grows wild in: The Appalachians, rich moist slopes and the forest understory - Native range: 8 states, north to West Virginia, south to Georgia and west to Alabama (Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia). Also recorded in 2 other states, outside its native range - Sun: Part, Full - Soil moisture: Average - Growth rate: Medium - Traits: Showy flowers, Wildlife value - Sold as: Saplings, Seed Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them. ## Availability Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed. ## Notes Fraser magnolia is a small to medium tree of the southern Appalachians, scattered through rich coves and lower slopes at about 1,600 to 5,600 feet. Its leaves, 8 to 12 inches long with two small lobes at the base, crowd into whorls at the branch tips. It is the earliest of the American magnolias to flower, and in the wild it often grows on several stems. The name honors John Fraser, a Scottish botanist who brought many American plants to Europe. Pyramid magnolia, which some botanists treat as its variety, is a smaller coastal plain tree with smaller flowers. Grow it as a specimen at a woodland edge, where the big spring flowers show against the leaves. ## Size, growth and what to expect Fraser magnolia grows at a medium pace, about a foot and a half a year in our growth estimator. Trees typically reach about 30 feet in 20 years. Expect 30 to 50 feet with a broad crown 20 to 30 feet wide. The tallest on record, in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, stood 107 feet. The creamy white flowers, 8 to 10 inches across, open from April into June as the leaves unfold. A rosy red cone 3 to 4 inches long follows and ripens in late summer, holding bright red seeds. Birds and small mammals eat the seeds and spread them. It grows wild in the Appalachians from West Virginia and western Virginia south to east Tennessee and western North Carolina. It reaches the Blue Ridge of northwest South Carolina and northeast Georgia, and the Cumberland Mountains of southeast Kentucky. ## How to grow Fraser Magnolia Fraser magnolia grows best in part shade or full sun, in a rich, moist soil, acid to neutral, that drains well. It does best in a sheltered spot where the soil stays cool, and it probably cannot stand long flooding. Keep it out of strong wind. Plant it 15 feet from a wall and more than 50 feet from overhead wires, and set trees 25 feet apart. Saplings ship potted. Magnolia roots are thick and fleshy and heal slowly in cold ground, so plant at the end of winter or as growth starts. Dig a hole wider than the root ball and no deeper. Set the root flare at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and keep the mulch clear of the trunk. Clean the red coat off the seed and never let it dry. Sow it outdoors in fall, half an inch deep, under hardware cloth against mice. For spring, hold it damp in the refrigerator for at least 60 days first. In tests only 8 to 21 percent of stratified seed sprouted, which is low for a magnolia. Water weekly through the first two summers and in long dry spells after that. Keep a wide ring of mulch over the roots. Deer browse the young sprouts heavily, so guard the stem with wire for the first few years. Thin a clump to one stem early for a single trunk. Each flower carries both male and female parts. Even so, Fraser magnolia is among the magnolias that cannot set seed from their own pollen, so a lone tree may bear none. Good seed crops come only every 4 to 5 years. Magnolia scale can weaken or kill a tree, and ambrosia beetles, cankers, leaf spots and powdery mildew also turn up. In the forest it is short-lived, often dropping out at 60 to 70 years. ## Sources - [USDA Forest Service, Silvics of North America: Fraser Magnolia, Della-Bianca 1990](https://research.fs.usda.gov/silvics/fraser-magnolia) - [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual: Magnolia chapter, Barbour](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Magnolia.pdf) - [Flora of North America, vol. 3: Magnolia fraseri](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233500768) - [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Magnolia fraseri](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/magnolia-fraseri/) - [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Magnolia fraseri](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=MAFR) - [Virginia Tech Dendrology: Fraser magnolia](https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=217) - [Trees and Shrubs Online (International Dendrology Society): Magnolia fraseri](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/magnolia/magnolia-fraseri/) - [Cal Poly Urban Forest Ecosystems Institute, SelecTree: Magnolia fraseri](https://selectree.calpoly.edu/tree-detail/magnolia-fraseri) - [USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: Magnolia fraseri, MAFR](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/MAFR) - [NatureServe Explorer: Magnolia fraseri](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.148823/Magnolia_fraseri) ## 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) - [Multistem or single stem? Sometimes the trunk is hiding the answer](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/multistem-or-single-stem/index.html.md) - [Leaf litter, not wood chips, under the canopy](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/leaf-litter-not-wood-chips/index.html.md) - [Native trees and shrubs for butterflies and moths: host plants first, nectar second](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-butterflies-and-moths/index.html.md) ## Related - [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Fraser Magnolia, add ?species=fraser-magnolia with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=fraser-magnolia&zone=5&sun=part&moisture=average. - [Companion species for Fraser Magnolia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=fraser-magnolia): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard. - [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=fraser-magnolia - [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Fraser Magnolia is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=fraser-magnolia - [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Fraser Magnolia needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=fraser-magnolia:2 - [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Fraser Magnolia flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.