What are the common propagation methods for Magnolia soulangeana?
The outside of Magnolia soulangeana is purplish-red, and the calyx is half the length of the petals. Some gardening enthusiasts cannot tell it apart from magnolia. Magnolia soulangeana is a hybrid of Magnolia denudata and Magnolia liliiflora, with about 20 cultivated varieties in horticulture. Artificial propagation of Magnolia soulangeana can use methods such as sowing, cuttings, grafting, layering and tissue culture.
Magnolia soulangeana
1. Sowing:Magnolia soulangeana generally does not set fruit after flowering; the small amount of fruit that does set ripens from September to October. Collect the ripe fruit, dry it indoors in the shade for 1 to 2 days, remove the seeds with the red outer coat, compost them briefly, then rub off the red outer skin with fine sand or in water and dry in the shade. Avoid sun exposure and do not let them lose water. It is best to sow immediately after collection or store mixed with moist sand until sowing in February to March of the following year, with a germination rate of 70% to 80%. Seedlings of Magnolia soulangeana have a good plant shape and are suitable for ground planting, but because it is a hybrid, the offspring are unstable in character and cannot retain all the habits of the superior variety, so it is rarely used in the propagation of superior varieties, but is often used when breeding new varieties.
2. Cuttings:Cuttings of Magnolia soulangeana are taken during the vigorous growth period from May to July. Choose current-year branches from young trees as cuttings, leave a small number of leaves at the upper part, soak the lower part of the branch in 50 mg/L indoleacetic acid, rooting powder or naphthaleneacetic acid for 6 hours, then insert into a bed of moist sand or vermiculite, shade appropriately, and mist frequently to maintain humidity. The survival rate can reach about 70%.
3. Grafting:Usually their parent Magnolia liliiflora (see details) or Magnolia denudata, this species, or Magnolia champaca, Magnolia alba and other plants of the same genus are used as rootstock. Various methods such as cleft grafting, bud grafting, cut grafting and side grafting can be used, but cleft grafting and bud grafting have higher survival rates.
4. Layering:Select well-growing plants and take 1- to 2-year-old branches 0.5 to 1.0 cm thick for layering. If there are branches, they can be layered on the branches. The best time for layering is February to March; roots can form in the same year after layering. After planting, they can bloom in 2 to 3 years.
5. Tissue culture:Tissue culture of Magnolia soulangeana can maintain the excellent traits of its variety. Generally, apical buds and lateral buds are used as explants. The medium for primary and subculture is MS+3.0mg/L 6-BA+0.2mg/L IBA, and the medium for inducing rooting is 1/2MS+0.5mg/L NAA.
Morphological characteristics and habits of Longnu flower; uses and propagation methods of Longnu flower
Longnu flower, also known as Shangguan flower, is a lost famous Chinese flower. It belongs to the Magnoliaceae family as a shrub or tree, and is a precious ornamental flower and tree. It is produced in the mountainous areas of southwestern China. Due to deforestation and excessive stripping of bark, its resources have been severely damaged, its habitat has deteriorated, its natural regeneration ability is weak, and adult plants are extremely rare. It is a nationally protected endangered and rare plant.
Longnu flower blooms in March of the lunar calendar every year. The flowers and leaves open at the same time and droop. The flowers are milky white, large and beautiful, and fragrant. The pistil protrudes, and the stamens are deep purple.
The bark of Longnu flower is called "Jiangpu" and is a substitute for Magnolia officinalis bark. It is a rare commonly used traditional Chinese medicine with definite efficacy and reliable therapeutic effects for drying dampness, resolving phlegm, directing qi downward and relieving asthma, appetizing and relieving food stagnation, and relieving pain, with effects that other medicines cannot replace.
Morphological characteristics of Longnu flower
Longnu flower is an evergreen shrub or small tree. The bark has obvious lenticels, and current-year branches are purplish-red. The leaves are elliptic-ovate or oblong-ovate, about 8 cm long and about 4 cm wide, glossy; the upper surface is covered with grayish-yellow pubescence along the midvein and lateral veins, and the lower surface is densely covered with silvery-gray appressed long pubescence. It blooms in March of the lunar calendar every year. The flowers and leaves open at the same time and droop. The flowers are milky white, large and beautiful, with a protruding pistil and deep purple stamens. The petals number 12 in a common year and 13 in a leap year. The petals naturally increase or decrease depending on the year, which is very magical and gives it high ornamental value.
Longnu flower is a precious ornamental flower and tree, produced in northwestern and western China to the Ailao Mountains, growing in mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forests at an altitude of 2700-3500 m. It is a national third-class protected plant. After 15 years of unremitting efforts by flower workers in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, the lost Dali famous flower Longnu flower, which had been lost among the people for hundreds of years, ended the historical situation of only hearing its name but not seeing its flower. The first batch of living specimen seedlings of Longnu flower has been successfully bred, and Longnu flower will reappear in Dali.
Ecological habits of Longnu flower
Longnu flower is a subtropical tree species and likes light. However, young trees are quite shade-tolerant. It likes a warm and humid climate and has a certain drought tolerance. It can withstand short-term low temperatures of -19X without obvious frost damage to the leaves, but if exposed to long-term low temperatures of -12X, the leaves will freeze.
Longnu flower likes fertile, deep, moist and well-drained acidic or neutral soil, and grows poorly on dry, calcareous, alkaline soil and poorly drained clay. It has a certain resistance to smoke, dust and sulfur dioxide gas.
Longnu flower grows in mixed forests at an altitude of 1800-2000 m.
Propagation methods of Longnu flower
Longnu flower is commonly propagated by grafting, layering and sowing, mainly by sowing and grafting.
Sowing
This is done after seed collection in autumn, or the seeds can be stratified with moist sand until sowing in March of the following year, with seedlings emerging in May. The seedlings grow slowly, so sowing should be slightly dense, and they should be transplanted in the second year after sowing.
Grafting
This is done in March to April. Use Magnolia liliiflora, Magnolia delavayi and others as rootstock. Select annual lateral terminal branches from vigorous mature plants with many flowers, large flowers and thick leaves as scions, remove the leaves, and graft by cut grafting. Mound soil up to the top; after the buds extend, remove the mounded soil and cut off the rootstock suckers. Some also use two-year-old branches for approach grafting; after 1 to 2 months they can be separated from the mother plant and grow independently.
Uses and purposes of Longnu flower
Ornamental value
The petals of Longnu flower are milky white, opening 12 petals in a common year and 13 in a leap year. The pistil protrudes like a dragon's whisker, crystal clear; the deep purple stamens set off the snow-white petals, creating a beauty too wonderful to take in, and the floral fragrance is fresh and sweet, with an inviting honey-like scent. For foliage, "the leaves are two and a half cun long, half as wide, green, glossy and shining"; for flowers, "graceful and beautiful like this", "rich fragrance perfumes the pure beauty", "the center is large and fragrant". With the successful breeding of the first batch of living specimen seedlings of Longnu flower, following orchids and camellias, another distinctive flower of Dali is bound to trigger a new round of green wealth upgrading.
Uses and purposes
The mysterious Cangshan Longnu flower was skillfully brought down the mountain and propagated by Dali flower workers. After identification by experts from the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, it ended the chaotic era of misidentifying this species. After in-depth research, the Longnu flower research group of the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture Flower Association reached the "three highs" conclusion for Longnu flower: "high medicinal value, high cultural content, and high ornamental value."
Variety classification of Longnu flower
Magnolia wilsonii
Magnolia wilsonii, also known as Wilson's white magnolia (Magnolia Wilsonni), is a national second-class protected plant in China. It was discovered by Wilson in Guizhou in 1904. This magnolia is now on the verge of extinction in China.
Magnolia soulangeana
Magnolia soulangeana is a hybrid of Magnolia denudata and Magnolia liliiflora.
Varieties of Magnolia denudata
1. Yingchun flower (var. purourescens), a tree, with pale red inside the flower and purplish-red outside, fragrant.
2. Tianmu magnolia (M. amoena), flowers pink or pale pink, young branches greenish, native to Tianmu Mountain, Zhejiang.
3. Baohua magnolia (M. zenii), upper part of the flower white, lower part and vein lines purple, young branches purplish, native to Baohua Mountain in Jurong, Jiangsu Province.
4. Oyama magnolia (M. sieboldii), flowers white, flowers with long stalks, leaves obovate-orbicular, leaf backs with white powder and short pubescence.
Flower language of Longnu flower
Flower language of Longnu flower: gratitude, nobility, purity.
After reading the above introduction about the uses and propagation methods of Longnu flower, do you have a better understanding of the propagation methods of Longnu flower? If you want to know more about Longnu flower, please keep following.
Beautiful and elegant: how to grow magnolia
Magnolia is a very popular plant, beautiful and elegant. When planting magnolia, you must grasp the timing well; it should not be too early or too late. Today, the editor will give you a good introduction to the methods of growing magnolia. Come and take a look!
Magnolia prefers fertilizer, but avoid heavy fertilizer; during the growing period, fertilizing twice is generally enough to benefit flower bud differentiation and promote growth. One application is in early spring, and the other is in May to June. The fertilizer is mostly fully decomposed organic fertilizer. Newly planted saplings do not need fertilizing; fertilize after leaf fall or in the following spring. Magnolia has fleshy roots and is not tolerant of waterlogging. During flowering and growth, the soil should be kept slightly moist. After autumn begins, watering should be reduced to delay rooting, promote branch maturity and help it overwinter. Generally do not water in winter; water only once if the soil is too dry. Magnolia branches and trunks have poor wound-healing ability, so pruning is generally not carried out. However, for a reasonable tree shape, vigorous shoots, dead branches, diseased and pest-infested branches, and branches that hinder the beauty of the tree shape should still be cut off in the early leaf expansion stage. In addition, after the flowers fade, if seeds are not to be kept, the spent flowers and follicle fruit clusters should also be cut off to avoid consuming nutrients and affecting flowering the next year.
Magnolia is mostly planted in the ground; when potted, it is suitable to train it into a stump landscape.
Magnolia can be propagated by grafting, layering, cuttings, sowing and other methods, but grafting and layering are the two most commonly used.
Magnolia denudata likes a sunny and humid environment and is not suitable for long-term growth in alkaline soil. For planting, choose a wind-sheltered, sunny, well-drained and fertile location. Before flowering, there should be sufficient water and fertilizer to promote large and fragrant flowers. Magnolia has few branches, and apart from dead branches, diseased and pest-infested branches, and branches that disturb the tree shape, it generally does not need pruning. After the flowers fade, if seeds are not to be kept, the fruit should be cut off to avoid consuming nutrients. Magnolia denudata has strong cold resistance and can overwinter outdoors in North China and southern Northeast China.
For potted magnolia, wiring and bending can be carried out. That is, after sprouting in April, as the new shoots grow, wire and bend them at any time to form curved postures and limit the trunk from growing too tall. Also, because magnolia is a deep-rooted plant, it tends to weaken after staying in a pot for a long time, so after the flowers fade, the main roots should be trimmed and it should be planted in the ground, then potted again before flowering. Only in this way can the flowers be abundant and colorful.
If propagated by seed, you must grasp the seed maturity period. Collect when the follicles turn red and split; collecting too early will prevent germination, and collecting too late makes them easy to shed. After collecting the follicles, spread them thinly. Soak and rub the fruits with red outer seed coats in cold water, remove the outer seed coat completely, take out the seeds and dry them in the shade, stratify them in sand, and sow in February to March of the following year. One-year-old seedlings can reach about 30 cm in height. Those cultivating large seedlings should transplant in the following spring, appropriately cut the main root, apply heavy base fertilizer, and control density. In 3 to 5 years, qualified seedlings with a complete crown, sparse flower buds, and a plant height of more than 3 m can be produced. Two to three years after planting, they can enter full bloom. Such seedlings grow vigorously and have strong adaptability, and their effect is no less than that of grafted seedlings.
Cuttings are the main propagation method of Magnolia liliiflora. The cutting time has a great influence on the survival rate. Generally it is carried out in May to June. Cuttings from current-year shoots of young trees have the highest survival rate. Soaking the base in 50 ppm naphthaleneacetic acid for 6 hours can increase the rooting rate.
Layering is a traditional propagation method, suitable for preserving and developing famous and superior varieties. Magnolia liliiflora is best propagated by this method. Select well-growing plants and take 1- to 2-year-old branches 0.5 cm to 1 cm thick for layering. If there are branches, they can be layered on the branches. The layering time is February to March. Roots form in the same year after layering. The longer it remains connected to the mother plant, the more developed the root system and the higher the survival rate. After planting, it can bloom in 2 to 3 years.
In recent years, tissue culture has been used, with buds of Magnolia soulangeana as explants, and successful culture has been achieved in test tubes. This method has special significance for preserving and developing new types bred through bud mutation and hybridization.