Hortus Botanicus Leiden, Netherlands

Common name: Noordelijke Japanse magnolia, Northern Japanese magnolia, コブシ Kobushi, 목련 mok ryeon

Family: Magnoliaceae (Magnolia)

Distribution: Japan, Korea

Hardiness: Zone 05

Life form: Tree or shrub

Comments: Magnolia kobus is originally from Japan and was only introduced in the US in 1865. The tree has been in the Leiden Hortus since 1975. It can reach a height of 10 meters and grows fairly quickly into a broad pyramidal shape. The twigs are bare and deliver an aromatic odor when bruised. The leaves appear on the branches after the large flower buds. Both leaf and flower buds are hairy. The leaves become 6 - 14 cm long, 6 - 8 cm wide and are ovoid in shape. The flowers are approximately 10 cm high, with six bright white petals. The hairy sepals are smaller and fall off when the flowers open. The flowers sometimes turn brown due to late night frost in April, but usually this tree looks spectacularly beautiful when flowering. The pink, knobby fruits, with fire-red seeds, have a strange shape; in Japan it is said that they have the shape of a baby fist and that the generic name "kobus" comes from kobushi, which means fist in Japanese.