# Loblolly Bay (Gordonia lasianthus)

> Fragrant white flowers like a camellia's from June into September, on a narrow evergreen tree of southern bays for wet, acid ground.

Also called holly-bay, gordonia, tan bay, black laurel. Category: Uncommon Yard Trees. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/loblolly-bay/

![Loblolly bay (Gordonia lasianthus) white flower with golden stamens among glossy evergreen leaves](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/loblolly-bay-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: jrcagle, CC BY 4.0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AGordonia_lasianthus_307569160.jpg)*

## Facts

- Type: Medium tree
- Mature height: 35 to 60 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 7 to 9
- Grows wild in: Sandy barrens, swamps and wet flats
- Native range: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina
- Sun: Full, Part
- Soil moisture: Wet, Average
- Growth rate: Medium
- Traits: Showy flowers, Evergreen, Tolerates wet soil, Street tree
- 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

Loblolly bay is an evergreen of the tea family, a narrow, columnar tree with glossy, toothed leaves, a few of which turn scarlet at a time before they drop. It grows wild in the bays, pocosins and wet pine flats of the southern coastal plain. It is a desirable ornamental that is not easy to cultivate. It is finicky, so it does best where the wet, acid ground of its home is matched. Its slim crown should suit a street with little room overhead, where the soil stays moist. Set it at the edge of a pond or in a low corner that stays wet, where its white flowers stand out against the dark leaves all summer.

## Size, growth and what to expect

Loblolly bay grows at a medium pace, about a foot and a half a year in our growth estimator. Young trees in the wild averaged about 2 feet a year over their first 15 years, most of them probably sprouts. Expect 35 to 60 feet with a narrow crown 10 to 15 feet wide.

The flowers open a few at a time from June into September, white and 2 to 3 inches across, each lasting a day or two. Bumblebees, flies and hummingbirds visit them. The woody capsules turn brown and split in September and October, and the last are open by mid-December.

It grows wild on the coastal plain from Albemarle Sound in North Carolina to the Apalachicola River in Florida, with scattered stands in coastal Alabama and southern Mississippi. On its home sites the water table stands at or near the surface six to nine months a year. NatureServe ranks it critically imperiled in Alabama.

## How to grow Loblolly Bay

Loblolly bay grows in full sun or part shade, in a wet or constantly moist soil that is strongly acid and sandy or peaty. It prefers part shade and takes full sun only where the soil stays moist. It will not take lime or salt, and at the northern edge of its range it needs shelter from winter wind and sun. Plant it 15 feet from a wall and more than 50 feet from overhead wires, and set trees 15 feet apart.

Saplings ship potted. The roots are fragile, so keep the root ball whole when you plant. Set it in a hole wider than the pot and no deeper, with the root flare at the soil line. Put the native soil back in and mulch a wide ring clear of the trunk. Dry the brown capsules in a paper bag until they split. The seed needs no chilling. Sow it in spring on damp, sandy soil, where it comes up within a few weeks.

Water deeply every week through the first two summers and in every dry spell after that, since the shallow roots die in drought. In one nursery, rooted cuttings whose pots dried even in one spot died within hours. Deer browse the leaves and sprouts heavily, so cage the tree for the first few years. It needs little pruning.

Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female trees to pair. Root rot can trouble young trees. Borers attack weakened trees, and aphids and caterpillars feed on the leaves, but no disease is serious. The thin bark makes it tender to fire, though a burned tree sprouts again from the root collar.

## Sources

- [USDA Forest Service, Silvics of North America: Loblolly-Bay, Gresham and Lipscomb 1990](https://research.fs.usda.gov/silvics/loblolly-bay)
- [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual: Gordonia chapter, Bonner](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Gordonia.pdf)
- [USDA Forest Service, Fire Effects Information System: Gordonia lasianthus, Coladonato 1992](https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/tree/gorlas/all.html)
- [Flora of North America, vol. 8: Gordonia lasianthus](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=220005783)
- [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Gordonia lasianthus](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/gordonia-lasianthus/)
- [University of Florida IFAS Extension, ENH443: Gordonia lasianthus, Loblolly-Bay (Gilman and Watson, 1993, reviewed 2003)](https://journals.flvc.org/edis/article/download/141319/146520/290574)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Gordonia lasianthus](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=GOLA)
- [Virginia Tech Dendrology: loblolly bay](https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=343)
- [USDA Forest Service, Native Plant Network: Propagation protocol for Gordonia lasianthus, Colodney 2001](https://npn.rngr.net/renderNPNProtocolDetails?selectedProtocolIds=theaceae-gordonia-459)
- [University of Georgia Extension, B 987: Native Plants for Georgia Part I: Trees, Shrubs and Woody Vines](https://fieldreport.caes.uga.edu/publications/B987/native-plants-for-georgia-part-i-trees-shrubs-and-woody-vines/)
- [Florida Native Plant Society: Gordonia lasianthus](https://www.fnps.org/plant/gordonia-lasianthus)
- [Trees and Shrubs Online (International Dendrology Society): Gordonia lasianthus](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/gordonia/gordonia-lasianthus/)
- [NatureServe Explorer: Gordonia lasianthus](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.139306/Gordonia_lasianthus)
- [USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: Gordonia lasianthus, GOLA](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/GOLA)

## 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 bees: pollen, nectar, nesting and a bloom calendar from willow to witch hazel](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-bees/index.html.md)

## Related

- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Loblolly Bay, add ?species=loblolly-bay with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=loblolly-bay&zone=7&sun=part&moisture=average.
- [Companion species for Loblolly Bay](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=loblolly-bay): 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=loblolly-bay
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Loblolly Bay 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=loblolly-bay
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Loblolly Bay 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=loblolly-bay:1
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Loblolly Bay flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.