magnolia - any shrub or tree of the genus Magnolia; valued for their longevity and exquisite fragrant blooms

bark - tough protective covering of the woody stems and roots of trees and other woody plants

genus Magnolia - shrubs or trees of North America or Asia having entire evergreen or deciduous leaves; among most ancient of angiosperm genera

magnolia - dried bark of various magnolias; used in folk medicine

bull bay, evergreen magnolia, large-flowering magnolia, Magnolia grandiflora, southern magnolia - evergreen tree of southern United States having large stiff glossy leaves and huge white sweet-smelling flowers

elk-wood, elkwood, Magnolia tripetala, umbrella magnolia, umbrella tree - small deciduous open-crowned tree of eastern North America having creamy white flowers and large leaves in formations like umbrellas at the ends of branches

earleaved umbrella tree, Magnolia fraseri - small erect deciduous tree with large leaves in coiled formations at branch tips

cucumber tree, Magnolia acuminata - American deciduous magnolia having large leaves and fruit like a small cucumber

great-leaved macrophylla, large-leaved cucumber tree, large-leaved magnolia, Magnolia macrophylla - large deciduous shrub or tree of southeastern United States having huge leaves in dense false whorls and large creamy flowers tinged purple toward the base

Chinese magnolia, Magnolia soulangiana, saucer magnolia - large deciduous shrub or small tree having large open rosy to purplish flowers; native to Asia; prized as an ornamental in eastern North America

Magnolia stellata, star magnolia - deciduous shrubby magnolia from Japan having fragrant white starlike flowers blooming before leaves unfold; grown as an ornamental in United States

Magnolia virginiana, swamp bay, sweet bay, swamp laurel - shrub or small tree having rather small fragrant white flowers; abundant in southeastern United States

angiospermous tree, flowering tree - any tree having seeds and ovules contained in the ovary