Scientific Name
Magnolia x ‘Daphne’
The Daphne magnolia is one of two deciduous hybrid magnolia cultivars with yellow flowers on the Regis campus, the other being ‘Butterflies.’ It was developed in Belgium and until now has been more available in Europe than in North America. This small tree should grow to about 20 feet in height with a spread of 10 feet. The lightly scented flowers appear slightly before or simultaneously with the leaves and are about 4 inches across. The flowers are viewed as among the best of the yellow cultivars. The prominent large fuzzy flower buds for the coming season are formed during late summer.
Because of the attractiveness of the flowers, a tremendous amount of effort has been invested in hybridizing magnolias, which exist in over 200 species that originate from either east and southeast Asia or eastern North America and Central America. The main objectives have been to produce plants with greater cold hardiness for gardeners in more northern climates and to improve flower color and timing of their emergence. The Daphne magnolia illustrates well the complexity of some of this work. It is a hybrid of the yellow cucumber magnolia (Magnolia acuminata v. subcordata) cultivar ‘Miss Honeybee’ with the magnolia cultivar ‘Gold Crown,’ the latter being a hybrid between Magnolia brooklynensis ‘Woodsman’ and the magnolia cultivar ‘Sundance,’ both of which are themselves hybrids!