Magnolia Sulawesiana
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''Magnolia sulawesiana'' is a large evergreen tree of the family
Magnoliaceae The Magnoliaceae () are a flowering plant family, the magnolia family, in the order Magnoliales. It consists of two genera: '' Magnolia'' and ''Liriodendron'' (tulip trees). Unlike most angiosperms, whose flower parts are in whorls (rings), ...
that grows in tropical montane forests on the Indonesian island of
Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...
.


Description

This is a large, evergreen tree, up to 35 m tall and with a dbh of up to 100 cm. As with all other species of ''Magnolia'', the twigs have stipules that enclose the twig tips and leave conspicuous circular scars after falling off. The leaves are spirally arranged, usually oblong, rather small for a ''Magnolia'' (usually 6-9 x 3–4.5 cm) and, like the other parts of the plant, almost completely glabrous. Only on the upper side of the petiole and on the lower side of the lamina, next to the midrib, there is a thin, but conspicuous line of brown hairs. The flowers are solitary on short stalks in the leaf-axils, have a diameter of c. 4 cm and white
tepals A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of ve ...
. The fruits consist of 8-11 apocarpous carpels that release the seeds at maturity. The combination of the hairs, flower position and low number of carpels is unique for the species and can be used to distinguish ''M. sulawesiana'' from all other species of ''
Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...
'' in Sulawesi.


Distribution and ecology

The species in only known from three sites, all located in the central mountain range of Sulawesi, including Lore Lindu National Park. There, it forms part of the canopy in moist
tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...
montane forests at elevations of . It is currently the only species of ''
Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...
'' considered
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to Sulawesi.


Uses

While other species of ''Magnolia'', such as '' M. tsiampacca'' and '' M. vrieseana'', are much sought after for their valuable timber, ''M. sulawesiana'' is currently not known to be exploited. This is possibly due to its occurrence at remote locations and high elevations.


References


External links

* ''Magnolia sulawesiana'' on Wikispecies
''Magnolia sulawesiana'' in Kew`s World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
{{Taxonbar, from=Q20817869 sulawesiana Paleotropical flora Endemic flora of Sulawesi