I live in northern New York State (just north of Albany) and my magnolia (a M. soulangeana or M. stellata, I think; it has pink and white flowers in the spring) is dropping strange looking pods. They look like pickles or maybe the bumpy tip of an asparagus. They're about 2-3" long and 1/2" in diameter. I don't remember seeing any last year (my first year in this house). What are they?
Having flowered, the magnolia then tries to form seeds. These are the "fruit" that contain the seeds.
Seed formation can stress a plant. Wood, leaves, and flowers are mostly carbohydrates, which are easily produced from water and carbon dioxide by the action of sunlight on leaves. Seeds, however, contain oils and proteins, which require a much more complicated plant chemistry to produce. The effort to produce seeds very often causes a plant to stop flowering. That is why we "deadhead" roses and other flowering plants.
I recommend that the immature pods be picked off the bush as soon as flowering is over. Just give them a little twist. This will promote more vigorous growth, leading to even more flowers next year.
My neighbor planted an Magnolia tree along the property line and now I have leathery leaves to contend with. I compost everything, but these leaves are very rot resistant. I do not like it.
Hi I live in NEWNAN Ga and have the same thing. The tree is a Star Magnolia and first year this happened. Tree obviously 15 or so years old. I am trying to find out as well.
Those are fruit, formed when the flowers fade. Yes, they are dry and not at all what you might think when you hear "fruit". To a botanist, however, they are indeed fruit.
You might snap off any you can reach. A very few might form seeds, which can stress the plant. Thus, you remove them before they mature. This is the same thing as cutting away faded roses or other flowers before they form seeds.
On a mature southern magnolia (M. grandiflora), these pods are large. The red seeds form in surface holes. Generally, they are too high up in the tree to remove. However, mature southern magnolias generally set seeds without suffering much stress. A mature southern magnolia is a very large tree, as much as 80 feet tall and spreading 60 feet. When mature, your star magnolia (M. stellata) is more like a very large shrub, not much more than 10 feet tall and spreading as much as 20 feet. Thus, the stress of setting seeds is greater for your magnolia than for a southern magnolia. Fortunately, the stress of setting seeds will NOT shorten the life of your tree; it might only reduce next year's flowers.
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