Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Magnoliaceae

This is the only open flower I have seen on this Banana Shrub plant. I either see only one or two tightly closed buds or nothing at all. Such a beautiful flower with the pink edging on the petals and the interesting flower centre. "The banana shrub is so called because of the distinctive, sweet banana scent of its flowers. These are formed within interesting fuzzy brown bracts that form a 1 in (2.5 cm) cigar-shaped bud. From these, small off-white flowers burst forth from late spring through summer. The blossoms are about 1.5 in (3.8 cm) in diameter with each of six waxy petals delicately outlined in dark red. Banana shrub is an evergreen woody plant with multiple stems and much branching. Left to itself it assumes a rounded open form reaching 15 ft (4.6 m) in height and almost as wide. Originally from China, banana shrub was introduced to United States in late 1700s and is one of the classic evergreen shrubs of the old south." From www.floridata.com .