# Magnolia figo

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Magnolia_figo
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Magnolia_figo.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnolia_figo
> Source revision: 1314899715
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Species of tree}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Michelia figo Purple Queen1.jpg
| image_caption = Cultivar 'Purple Queen'
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |author= Khela, S. |date=2014 |title= ''Magnolia figo'' |volume=2014 |article-number= e.T15112917A15112956 |doi= 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-1.RLTS.T15112917A15112956.en |access-date=July 13, 2025}}</ref>
| genus = Magnolia
| display_parents = 3
| parent = Magnolia subsect. Michelia
| species = figo
| authority = ([Lour.](/source/Jo%C3%A3o_de_Loureiro)) [DC.](/source/Augustin_Pyramus_de_Candolle)
| synonyms = {{species list |Liriodendron figo |Lour.
                            |Michelia figo |(Lour.) Spreng.}}
| synonyms_ref =<ref name=POWO/>
}}

'''''Magnolia figo''''' is a species of [flowering plant](/source/flowering_plant) in the family ''[Magnoliaceae](/source/Magnoliaceae)''.<ref name=POWO>{{cite web |url= https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:554702-1 |title= Magnolia figo (Lour.) DC. |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=n.d. |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=July 13, 2025}}</ref><ref name=COL>{{cite web |url= https://www.catalogueoflife.org/data/taxon/3XH9V |title= Magnolia figo (Lour.) DC. |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=n.d. |website=Catalogue of Life |publisher=Species 2000 |access-date=July 13, 2025}}</ref> This [evergreen](/source/evergreen) tree is sometimes referred to by the common names '''banana shrub''', and '''port wine magnolia'''. It grows to {{convert|3-4|m|ft|abbr=off|0}} tall. 

Initially described by [Portuguese](/source/Portuguese_people) [missionary](/source/missionary) and [naturalist](/source/Natural_history) [João de Loureiro](/source/Jo%C3%A3o_de_Loureiro) as ''[Liriodendron](/source/Liriodendron) figo'', it was reclassified as ''Michelia figo'' by German [botanist](/source/Botany) [Curt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel](/source/Curt_Polycarp_Joachim_Sprengel). In 2006, a [cladistic](/source/Cladistics) analysis of the [genus](/source/genus) ''[Michelia](/source/Michelia)'' found them to lie within the genus ''[Magnolia](/source/Magnolia)'', with the name now being ''Magnolia figo''.

It is cultivated as an [ornamental plant](/source/ornamental_plant) in [garden](/source/garden)s for its fragrant flowers, which are cream-white and sometimes yellow, purple rounded, or light-purple, and strongly scented with [isoamyl alcohol](/source/isoamyl_alcohol).<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Knudsen|first1=Jeite T.|last2=Tollsten|first2=Lars|last3=Bergstrom|first3=L. Gunnar|title=Floral Scents - A Checklist of Volatile Compounds Isolated by Head-Space Techniques|journal=Phytochemistry|date=1993|volume=33|issue=2|pages=253–280|doi=10.1016/0031-9422(93)85502-i}}</ref> It is also popular to keep ''M. figo'' as a [houseplant](/source/houseplant). [Flower buds](/source/Bud), as well as new [leaves](/source/Leaf), are covered with hairs, giving it a texture similar to that of [velvet](/source/velvet). The leaves are leathery, dark glossy-green, up to 10&nbsp;[cm](/source/Centimetre) long.

This plant is used in [Shanghai](/source/Shanghai), [China](/source/China), as a tall evergreen [hedge](/source/hedge).  It grows very slowly and matures into a large [evergreen](/source/evergreen) compact [tree](/source/tree).  It grows in acid and alkaline soil very well, but is susceptible to black soot.

==Distribution==
It is native to [China](/source/China).

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{GRIN | ''Michelia figo'' | 316261}}
* [http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl/search?q=Magnolia+figo Kew Plant List for ''Magnolia figo'']
* [http://www.ipni.org/ipni/simplePlantNameSearch.do?find_wholeName=Magnolia+figo IPNI Listing]
* [http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/shrubs/MICFIGA.PDF#search='Michelia%20figo' Fact Sheet FPS-404 ], [University of Florida](/source/University_of_Florida)

{{Taxonbar|from=Q311864}}

figo
Category:Trees of China
Category:Garden plants of Asia
Category:Ornamental trees
Category:Taxa named by João de Loureiro

{{Magnoliales-stub}}
{{tree-stub}}

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Magnolia figo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnolia_figo) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnolia_figo?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.