Sweetbay Magnolia
Magnolia virginiana
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail caterpillars feed on its leaves. It grows wild in 56 of Virginia’s 133 counties.
- Light
- Part shade to full sun
- Soil
- Moist soil
- Size
- 22.5 ft to 35 ft tall, 22.5 ft wide
- Flowers
- White
- Leaves
- Semi-evergreen
- Roots
- Woody roots; wants 30 in of soil
- Kind
- Tree, Shrub
Planted young
in flowerfruit or seed
What it feeds
- Butterflies
- Host plant for the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
- Caterpillars
- 24 kinds of caterpillars
- Bees
- 7 kinds of native bees
- Birds
- 2 kinds of birds
- On its flowers
- Mining bee (Andrena miserabilis), Mason bee (Ashmeadiella rhodognatha), Small carpenter bee (Ceratina viridis), Masked bee (Hylaeus capitosus)
Grows well with
American Witch-hazel
Common Waxmyrtle
Allegheny Serviceberry
Common Pawpaw
Fringetree
Sourwood
Yaupon Holly
Coral Honeysuckle
Facts from the Quercus record for Magnolia virginiana.