Organic Forest Plants & More

Cucumbertree (Magnolia acuminata)

Trees and Shrubs

Zones

: 4 - 8

Duration: Perennial

Growth Habit: Tree

Mature Size: Height: 100 ft., Height at 20 years: 40 ft. Diameter: 3 - 4 ft.

Flowers: early April - early July

Fruit: late August - September

Common alternate names for cucumbertree: cucumber magnolia, yellow cucumbertree, yellow-flower magnolia, mountain magnolia.

Scientific name for cucumbertree:  Magnolia acuminata L.

Planting Information:

Requires soil that is well drained, moist, and deep. Cucumbertree grows fast in moist, deep soils of coves and lower slopes. Prefers slightly acidic soil.

Magnolia seed of all species seems more sensitive to adverse temperatures and moisture factors than other tree seed. All seeds of magnolia species lose viability if fully dried or stored over winters at room temperatures.

The beds should be mulched and the mulch not removed until there is no possibility of a late spring frost. Young seedlings need half shade during most of the first summer in the seedbed. Normally plantings are done with 1-0 bare root seedlings. Cucumbertree is easy to transplant.

Colors: Leaves: large, deciduous, yellow or bronze in fall. Flowers: green to greenish-yellow, bell-shaped, conspicuous. Fruit: red (brown when mature), cucumber-shaped. Seeds: reddish-orange, conspicuous. Bark: dark brown, furrowed, quite scaly.

Edible - food uses of cucumbertree: NA

Healing medicinal qualities of cucumbertree:

The Cherokee indians used an infusion made from cucumbertree bark to treat stomachache, cramps, toothache, and sinus problems. The Cherokees also used this tree (often using the bark) to make medicine that worked as a gastrointestinal aid, a respiratory aid, and an antidiarrheal.

The Iriquois made a compound decoction from the cucumbertree and used it as an anthelmintic and venereal aid.

Other uses for cucumbertree:

Ornamental: Cucumbertree is a valuable forest and shade tree, highly desirable for ornamental planting because of the showy flowers, fruits, and attractive foliage and bark. This species has been planted successfully well north of its native range; it grows well in slightly acid, well-drained soil.

Timber: Cucumbertree wood is light and soft, not strong but durable. It resembles yellow-poplar except that the wood is heavier, harder, and stronger. This species is commonly used for lumber in the Appalachian Mountains, especially in West Virginia and adjoining States. The wood is usually sold as yellow-poplar; it has not been sold as cucumbertree lumber since 1928.

It is used in furniture and cabinet making, and sometimes for flooring.

Cucumbertree is not as desirable for fuelwood as the denser hardwoods. Compared with hickory, which has a fuel value of 100, cucumbertree has a fuel value of 57 (on a volume basis).

Wildlife:

In general, wildlife use of cucumbertree for food is low; however, the seeds are eaten by several species of birds and small mammals. Grackles and blackbirds also eat the young fruit of the cucumber tree. Twigs, leaves, and buds are browsed by deer; although cucumbertree is classed as nonpalatable by some investigators, others have considered it an important deer plant food in West Virginia during one or more seasons.

General description and characteristics of sassafras:

Cucumbertree (Magnolia acuminata), also called cucumber magnolia, yellow cucumbertree, yellow-flower magnolia, and mountain magnolia, is the most widespread and hardiest of the eight native magnolia species in the United States, and the only magnolia native to Canada. They reach their greatest size in moist soils of slopes and valleys in the mixed hardwood forests of the southern Appalachian Mountains. Growth is fairly rapid and maturity is reached in 80 to 120 years. The soft, durable, straight-grained wood is similar to yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera). They are often marketed together and used for pallets, crates, furniture, plywood, and special products. The seeds are eaten by birds and rodents and this tree is suitable for planting in parks.

Cucumbertree often has a pyramidal crown, small branches, and a straight trunk.

The root system for cucumbertree is deep and widespread, and trees rarely develop a taproot.

This species matures in 100 years and seldom lives more than 150 years. Generally, the species is  rapid growing and short lived.

In Indiana and Florida, cucumbertree is considered to be endangered.