Phellodendron 
Winter 
= 
Baste 
CUCUMBERTREE ite 
(CUCUMBER MAGNOLIA) 
Magnolia acuminata 
The cucumbertree is the sole magnolia 
native to (southern) Missouri, where it 
occurs mostly in stream bottoms, along 
ridges, and at the bottoms of bluffs. The 
species ranges from Ontario to Florida 
and Louisiana, attaining its greatest size 
(up to about 100 feet tall) and abundance 
in the southern Appalachians. This is 
the hardiest magnolia, of which there are 
some 80 species altogether in Asia and 
the Americas, primarily in warm places. 
About eight species are native to North 
America. 
Stately landscaping trees best used in 
the open, cucumbertrees grow rapidly and become pyramidal. They are 
generally free of problems except for an intolerance of pollution. The 
specimen east of Tower Grove House demonstrates the attractiveness of a 
cucumbertree grown in the open. 
With greenish yellow, comparatively small flowers, the cucumbertree 
is not one of the showiest magnolias, but its flowers have interest beyond 
ornamental value. It is thought that magnolias are ancient among flower- 
ing plants, and that magnolia flowers show primitive characteristics, such 
11 
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