Editing Magnolia (section)

===History===

====Early====
[[File:Magnòlia a Verbania.JPG|thumb|''[[Magnolia grandiflora]]'']]
[[File:Magnolia flowers (Wiesbaden, Germany).JPG|thumb|''Magnolia'' flowers]]
[[File:Bloemknop van een Magnolia, 05-03-2024. (actm.) 01.jpg|thumb|Flower bud]]

The name ''Magnolia'' first appeared in 1703 in the ''[[Genera]]''<ref name=Plumier>Plumier, C. (1703) ''Nova plantarum Americanarum genera''. Paris. [New genera of American plants].</ref> written by French botanist [[Charles Plumier]], for a flowering tree from the island of [[Martinique]] (''talauma''). It was named after French botanist [[Pierre Magnol]]. English botanist [[William Sherard]], who studied botany in Paris under [[Joseph Pitton de Tournefort]], a pupil of Magnol, was most probably the first after Plumier to adopt the genus name ''Magnolia''. He was at least responsible for the [[Taxonomy (biology)|taxonomic]] part of [[Johann Jacob Dillenius]]'s ''Hortus Elthamensis''<ref>Dillenius, J.J. (1732), ''Hortus Elthamensis, seu plantarum rariorum quas in horto suo Elthami in Cantio coluit vir ornamentissimus et praestantissimus Jacobus Sherard''. London [The garden of Eltham, or rather about the rare plants that the most distinguished and prominent man Jacob Sherard grows in his garden in Eltham in Kent].</ref> and of [[Mark Catesby]]'s ''Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands''.<ref>Catesby, M. (1730), ''The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, containing the figures of birds, beasts, fishes, serpents, insects and plants, Vol. 1.'' London.</ref> These were the first works after Plumier's ''Genera'' that used the name ''Magnolia'', this time for some species of [[flowering plant|flowering trees]] from [[temperate]] North America. The species that Plumier originally named ''Magnolia'' was later described as ''[[Annona dodecapetala]]'' by [[Jean-Baptiste Lamarck]]<ref>Lamarck, J.B.P.A. de (1786), ''Encyclopédie Méthodique Botanique'', tome second: 127. Paris.</ref> and has since been named ''Magnolia plumieri'' and ''Talauma plumieri'' (among a number of other names), but is now known as ''Magnolia dodecapetala''.<ref group=lower-alpha>Under the rule of priority, the first name that is validly published in Linnaeus' ''Species Plantarum'' (1 May 1753) or any other work of any other [[botanist]] after that, takes precedence over later names. Plumier's name was not a [[binomen]] and moreover published before ''Species Plantarum'', so it has no status. The first binomen published after 1753 was Lamarck's ''Annona dodecapetala'' (1786). ''Magnolia plumieri'' (1788) was published on a later date by Schwartz, and is treated as a later synonym, as are ''Magnolia fatiscens'' (1817; Richard), ''Talauma caerulea'' (Jaume St-Hilaire 1805) and ''Magnolia linguifolia'' (1822).</ref>

[[Carl Linnaeus]], who was familiar with Plumier's ''Genera'', adopted the genus name ''Magnolia'' in 1735 in his first edition of ''[[Systema Naturae]]'', without a description but with a reference to Plumier's work. In 1753, he took up Plumier's ''Magnolia'' in the first edition of ''[[Species Plantarum]]''. He described a [[monotypic]] genus, with the sole species being ''[[Magnolia virginiana]]''. Since Linnaeus never saw a herbarium specimen (if there ever was one) of Plumier's ''Magnolia'' and had only his description and a rather poor picture at hand, he must have taken it for the same plant that was described by [[Mark Catesby]] in his 1730 ''Natural History of Carolina''. He placed it in the [[synonym (taxonomy)|synonymy]] of ''Magnolia virginiana'' var. ''fœtida'', the [[taxon]] now known as ''[[Magnolia grandiflora]]''. Under ''Magnolia virginiana'', Linnaeus described five varieties (''glauca'', ''fœtida'', ''grisea'', ''tripetala'', and ''acuminata''). In the tenth edition of ''Systema Naturae'' (1759), he merged ''grisea'' with ''glauca'' and raised the four remaining varieties to species status.<ref group=lower-alpha>''Magnolia glauca'' has the same type specimen as ''Magnolia virginiana'' and as the latter is the first valid name, the species is now called ''Magnolia virginiana'' (sweetbay magnolia). Var. ''fœtida'' was renamed ''[[Magnolia grandiflora]]'', which is legitimate as the epithet ''fœtida'' only has priority in its rank of variety. ''Magnolia grandiflora'' is the southern magnolia. ''[[Magnolia tripetala]]'' (umbrella magnolia) and ''[[Magnolia acuminata]]'' (cucumber tree) are still recognized as species.</ref>

By the end of the 18th century, botanists and plant hunters exploring Asia had begun to name and describe the ''Magnolia'' species from China and Japan. The first Asiatic species to be described by western botanists were ''[[Magnolia denudata]]'', ''[[Magnolia liliiflora]]'',<ref group=lower-alpha>Under these names the species were described by [[Louis Auguste Joseph Desrousseaux|Desrousseaux]] in [[Lamarck]]'s ''Encyclopédie Méthodique Botanique'', tome troisieme (1792): 675. In the beginning of the 20th century, descriptions which seemed to represent the same species, were found in a work of the French naturalist [[Pierre Joseph Buchoz|P.J. Buc'hoz]], ''Plantes nouvellement découvertes'' (1779), under the names ''Lassonia heptapeta'' and ''Lassonia quinquepeta''. In 1934, the English botanist J.E. Dandy argued that these names had priority over the names by which both species had been known for over a century and hence from then on ''Magnolia denudata'' had to be named ''Magnolia heptapeta'', ''Magnolia liliiflora'' should be changed into ''Magnolia quinquepeta''. After a lengthy debate, specialist taxonomists decided that the Buc'hoz's names were based on [[chimaeras]] (pictures constructed of elements of different species), and as Buc'hoz did not cite or preserve herbarium specimens, his names were ruled not to be acceptable.</ref> ''[[Magnolia coco]],'' and ''[[Michelia figo|Magnolia figo]]''.<ref group=lower-alpha>These species were published as ''Liriodendron coco'' and ''Liriodendron figo'' by J. de Loureiro in ''Flora Cochinchinensis'' (1790) and later (1817) transferred to ''Magnolia'' by [[A. P. de Candolle]]. ''Magnolia figo'' was soon after transferred to the genus ''Michelia''.</ref> Soon after that, in 1794, [[Carl Peter Thunberg]] collected and described ''Magnolia obovata'' from Japan, and roughly at the same time ''[[Magnolia kobus]]'' was also first collected.<ref>''Magnolia kobus'' only received its name in 1814, when it was validly published by A.P. de Candolle. There has been much confusion about earlier attempts to validly publish this species, especially because descriptions and type specimens did not match.</ref>

====Recent====
With the number of species increasing, the genus was divided into two subgenera, ''Magnolia'' and ''Yulania''. ''Magnolia'' contains the American evergreen species ''M. grandiflora'', which is of horticultural importance, especially in the southeastern United States, and ''M. virginiana'', the [[type species]]. ''Yulania'' contains several deciduous Asiatic species, such as ''M. denudata'' and ''M. kobus'', which have become horticulturally important in their own right and as parents in [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrids]]. Classified in ''Yulania'' is also the American deciduous ''M. acuminata'' (cucumber tree), which has recently attained greater status as the parent responsible for the yellow flower color in many new hybrids.{{cn|date=June 2024}}

Relations in the family Magnoliaceae have puzzled taxonomists for a long time. Because the family is quite old and has survived many geological events (such as ice ages, mountain formation, and continental drift), its distribution has become scattered. Some species or groups of species have been isolated for a long time, while others could stay in close contact. To create divisions in the family (or even within the genus ''Magnolia'') solely based upon morphological characters has proven to be a nearly impossible task.<ref group=lower-alpha>In 1927 J.E. Dandy accepted 10 genera in ''The genera of Magnoliaceae'', ''Kew Bulletin 1927'': 257–264. In 1984 Law Yuh-Wu proposed 15 in ''A preliminary study on the taxonomy of the family Magnoliaceae'', ''Acta Phytotaxonomica Sinica'' 22: 89–109; in 2004 even 16, in ''Magnolias of China''. This is not just about grouping some genera together where others do not; authors often choose different boundaries.</ref>

By the end of the 20th century, [[DNA sequencing]] had become available as a method of large-scale research on [[Phylogenetics|phylogenetic relationships]]. Several studies, including studies on many species in the family Magnoliaceae, were carried out to investigate relationships.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Azuma |first1=H. |last2=Thien |first2=L.B. |last3=Kawano |first3=S. |year=1999 |title=Molecular phylogeny of ''Magnolia'' (Magnoliaceae) inferred from cpDNA sequences and evolutionary divergence of the floral scents |journal=Journal of Plant Research |volume=112 |issue=1107 |pages=291–306 |doi=10.1007/pl00013885 |bibcode=1999JPlR..112..291A |s2cid=206862607}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Azuma |first1=H. |last2=García-Franco |first2=J.G. |last3=Rico-Gray |first3=V. |last4=Thien |first4=L.B. |year=2001 |title=Molecular phylogeny of the Magnoliaceae: the biogeography of tropical and temperate disjunctions |journal=American Journal of Botany |volume=88 |issue=12 |pages=2275–2285 |doi=10.2307/3558389 |pmid=21669660 |jstor=3558389 |doi-access=|bibcode=2001AmJB...88.2275A }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kim |first1=S. |display-authors=etal |year=2001 |title=Phylogenetic relationships in family Magnoliaceae inferred from ndhF sequences |journal=American Journal of Botany |volume=88 |issue=4 |pages=717–728 |doi=10.2307/2657073 |jstor=2657073 |pmid=11302859}}</ref> What these studies all revealed was that the genus ''[[Michelia]]'' and ''Magnolia'' subgenus ''Yulania'' were far more closely allied to each other than either one of them was to ''Magnolia'' subgenus ''Magnolia''. These phylogenetic studies were supported by morphological data.<ref>Figlar, R.B. (2000), Proleptic branch initiation in ''Michelia'' and ''Magnolia'' subgenus ''Yulania'' provides basis for combinations in subfamily Magnolioideae. In: Liu Yu-hu et al., ''Proceedings of the International Symposium on the Family Magnoliaceae'': 14–25, Science Press, Beijing.</ref>

As [[nomenclature]] is supposed to reflect relationships, the situation with the species names in ''Michelia'' and ''Magnolia'' subgenus ''Yulania'' was undesirable. Taxonomically, three choices are available:

# to join ''Michelia'' and ''Yulania'' species in a common genus, not being ''Magnolia'' (for which the name ''Michelia'' has priority);
# to raise subgenus ''Yulania'' to generic rank, leaving ''Michelia'' names and subgenus ''Magnolia'' names untouched, or;
# to join ''Michelia'' with the genus ''Magnolia'' into the genus ''Magnolia'' [[sensu (taxonomy)|s.l.]] (a big genus).

''Magnolia'' subgenus ''Magnolia'' cannot be renamed because it contains ''M. virginiana'', the type species of the genus and of the family.

Not many ''Michelia'' species have so far become horticulturally or economically important, apart from their wood. Both subgenus ''Magnolia'' and subgenus ''Yulania'' include species of major horticultural importance, and a change of name would be very undesirable for many people, especially in the horticultural branch. In Europe, ''Magnolia'' is even more or less a synonym for ''Yulania'', since most of the cultivated species on this continent have ''Magnolia (Yulania) denudata'' as one of their parents. Most taxonomists who acknowledge close relations between ''Yulania'' and ''Michelia'' therefore support the third option and join ''Michelia'' with ''Magnolia''.{{cn|date=June 2024}}

The same goes, ''mutatis mutandis'', for the (former) genera ''[[Talauma]]'' and ''Dugandiodendron'', which are then placed in subgenus ''Magnolia'', and genus ''[[Manglietia]]'', which could be joined with subgenus ''Magnolia'' or may even earn the status of an extra subgenus. ''[[Elmerrillia]]'' seems to be closely related to ''Michelia'' and ''Yulania'', in which case it will most likely be treated in the same way as ''Michelia'' is now. The precise nomenclatural status of small or monospecific genera like ''Kmeria'', ''Parakmeria'', ''Pachylarnax'', ''Manglietiastrum'', ''Aromadendron'', ''Woonyoungia'', ''Alcimandra'', ''Paramichelia'', and ''Tsoongiodendron'' remains uncertain. Taxonomists who merge ''Michelia'' into ''Magnolia'' tend to merge these small genera into ''Magnolia'' s.l. as well. Botanists do not agree on whether to recognize a big ''Magnolia'' or the different small genera. For example, ''Flora of China'' offers two choices: a large genus ''Magnolia'', which includes about 300 species and everything in the [[Magnoliaceae]] except ''[[Liriodendron]]'' (tulip tree), or 16 different genera, some of them recently split out or re-recognized, each of which contains up to 50 species.<ref name="china">[http://efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=10530 4. Magnoliaceae], ''Flora of China''</ref> The western co-author favors the big genus ''Magnolia'', whereas the Chinese recognize the different small genera.

New species of ''Magnolia'' are still being discovered today. In 2014, researchers discovered ''Magnolia vargasiana'' and ''Magnolia llangantensis'' in Ecuador’s Cordillera Llanganates, within the Río Zuñac Reserve at 2000 meters elevation. The Río Zuñac Reserve is a privately protected conservation area in Ecuador, managed by the EcoMinga Foundation. This newly identified tree species grows between 11 and 26 meters tall and features sub-orbicular leaves, creamy white petals, and a pollination system involving flea beetles. Found during a vegetation survey, its limited distribution and low population density place it at risk of extinction.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Antonio Vázquez-García |first=José |date=July 17, 2015 |title=Magnolia vargasiana (Magnoliaceae), a new Andean species and a key to Ecuadorian species of subsection Talauma, with notes on its pollination biology |url=https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Magnolia-vargasiana-Flowering-timing-A-Day-zero-0D-female-phase-1649-hrs-B-0D_fig3_280100559}}</ref>