Magnolia x 'Gold Cup'

I wandered around a nursery today and came upon a nice big (8 feet or more) Magnolia x 'Gold Cup' budding up now. After some research I see that it is a August Kehr plant that is Magnolia x soulangeana cv Lennei x M. cv Elizabeth. Or something like that. I have always wanted a yellow one. Any thoughts about this one. Here is another mention.

http://gardengal.net/page13.html

Fairweather has sold it in the past, but no longer has it. That could be a bad sign.
Anyone grow this one? Thanks as it would be an investment not just another small plant. Not in Plantfiles. Patti

I have 'Elizabeth' and it is great. Looks like it's part of 'Gold Cup' parentage.

Ah, but is it good parenting or poor parenting? Thanks for the reply. How big is yours? And what is the planting site like? Patti

Must be good parenting since it's done so well. It's about 15' tall after five years. It was 3'-4' when planted. Beautiful buttercup yellow blooms. Facing west on the side of the building. Lots of hot afternoon sun. Last summer, it suffered with the drought we experienced. Hopefully, it'll be fine with all of the rain we got this past winter.

Great report, more tempted now to buy that plant. Thanks, Patti

Is 'Gold Cup' a precocious blooming magnolia? (blooms before the leaves emerge?) 'Yellow Bird' is sold around here and it is not a precocious bloomer (blooms during/after the leaves have emerged) so the floral display is less than spectacular.
tl³

'Elizabeth' is precocious, for sure.

I can't seem to find out that about 'Gold Cup'. Because it is heavily budded already with not much sign of leaves, it may be. I am going to go back next week and have a better look. It may be sold by then so this will be mute. But I have always wondered what the term was for a plant that blooms before leafing out. Thanks. Patti

I'm going to tickle tl³ and debate a point.

I believe precocious in referring to plants means similar (if not the same) as when referring to children: the subject performs a task/function/behavior very early in life, beyond or before what one might expect at that age.

Thus: I believe precocious means (applied to the magnolias being discussed) that these plants will start blooming, and blooming well, when still relatively young plants. This doesn't have anything to do with when the plant leafs out. A young crape myrtle, or southern magnolia (that always blooms when leaves are present) which blooms heavily would also rightly be termed precocious.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/precocious

Now, if we took a really literal interpretation, then a precocious plant would be blooming before such a time that it would be able to reproduce. That would present a conflict just on the face of it.

I found this from Dick Figlar, president of the Magnolia Society on the East Coast

Here's what the Magnolia Society International posts about Magnolia 'Gold Cup'.

"Very heavily textured flowers of deep yellow which are unique because the flowers are cup shaped. Late blooming. Also unique is the distinctive, thick, wrinkled foliage due to its high chromosone number.’ =R18-27"

Here's what Magnolia expert Pat McCracken says about it.

"Magnolia x ‘Gold Cup’ – (R18-27) - Large, medium yellow, cup shaped flowers. Flowers 6"+ wide. Foliage is very heavy textured and puckered, maturing to 8" wide and 8" long. Plant is a tetraploid. Growth habit is broadly upright with fairly fast growth rate. Mature height 20’+."

Song Sparrow Nursery sells them still and here's a link to the photo of M. 'Gold Cup' on their website.

Link to photo of M. 'Gold Cup' flowers: http://www.songsparrow.com/images-plants/highres/1MAGGOC.jpg

Also, since both parents are precocious(I think VV was just teasing or tickling around, but he most probably knows that botanical and/or literal definitions of words are often different than their botanical definition) M. 'Gold Cup' should also be so.

Botanical Definition of precocious: blossoming before the appearance of leaves.

Thanks, I had seen the first two sites, but not the Song Sparrow picture. More tempted, though I had a dmail from a serious plantswoman about one biting the dust. She was doing some test growing for another nursery. VV is a source of great information for me in the past and I should have picked up on his bit, but I sort of thought he too was being a tad precocious. Patti

Surprisingly, M. Dirr doesn't include the term "precocious" in the extensive glossary of taxonomic terms in his "Manual of Woody Landscape Plants", which I always refer to as The Final Word of information. Obviously though, magnolia buffs would be the final word in this case. Isn't DG a great place to learn!

I am happy to let Figlar and Dirr solve this one and VV can be the referee. I know nothing. But trying hard to learn. I am going off Island for a few days and will look for other yellow choices.

'Elizabeth' , 'Butterflies' 'Yellow Bird' Banana Split', 'Gold Cup', 'Gold Star', 'Golden Endeavor',' Golden Gift', 'Golden Girl', 'Golden Glow', 'Golden Goblet', 'Golden Sun', 'Goldfinch', Goldie Manual' ,'Hot Flash ', ' Legend ', ' Maxine Merrill ', 'Miss Honeybee', 'Sawada's Cream ', 'Skyland's Best ', 'Stellar Acclaim ', 'Solar Flair ', 'Sulphur ockatoo',
'Sun Ray', 'Sun Spire', 'Sunburst' ,'Sundance', 'Sundew', 'Sunsation' and others that I find. If any. Patti

I have 'Butterflies' and it's beautiful. I also am looking for 'Sunburst'. 'Sunburst' has some red at the base of the "petals" and that contrast seems to intensify the yellow color of the "flower".

I had purchased a 'Sunburst' from a nursery out east, but the plant was so root bound when I received it that when I put the plant in the ground I loosened the root mass a bit so the tree had a fighting chance at developing a decent root system. The tree didn't survive the "loosening" process, even though I was fairly gentle and didn't go overboard. Oh well...
tl³

Since VV opened the door to debate, I'll walk through it. Is "precocious" considered a technical botanical term, or rather a word that is commonly used for describing the timing of flowers? Would a botanist give it equal weight as compared to a term such as "indehiscent"? It seems to me that the description VV gave is a better fit when compared to the definition of the word: exhibiting mature qualities at an unusually early age. I looked at a few different sources of botanical terms, and none of them listed precocious. Is it possible this is just a common term comparable to calling Juniperus a cedar or Sorbus a mountain ash?

Bob

I'll still go with the Magnolia Society president whom bbrookrd quoted. Sometimes within a group of "specialists", there is an agreed upon term. Makes more sense that it refers to blooms before leaves, not exhibiting mature characteristics early in growth.

I have 'Butterflies' as does my neighbor. Hers is in quite a bit of shade and still seems to do really well. Flowers did get nipped last year during the late frost. I planted mine last year (did not know that was her variety as well, I would have planted something different!) and it is around 4 years old. I purchased it before I really had any kind of clue or plan for my garden, but it is a very attractive shape and looks like it will be easy to keep in line and not outgrow the spot where I planted it. It does not look like I will have flowers on mine this year, anyone know at what age 'Butterflies' starts to bloom?

Elizabeth