Help! trying to find the name of a tree

We saw a really cool tree blooming a few years ago, the blooms looked like a fried egg...large white bloom with a big yellow center...so it looked like a tree covered in over easy fried eggs...can anyone help with the proper name for it...I've googled as much as I can and have come up with nuttin hunny....Any help would be greatly appreciated..

Maybe Magnolia grandiflora or some other species of Magnolia?

Resin

Or maybe a Gordonia http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=gordonia&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&searcher%5Bgrex%5D=&search_prefs%5Bblank_cultivar%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search or Franklinia http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=franklinia&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&searcher%5Bgrex%5D=&search_prefs%5Bblank_cultivar%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search? I don't recall seeing either of those around here and I don't know if they're really suited to our climate though so magnolia is more likely.

I've always thought Romneya coulteri kinda looks like a fried egg but it's more of a shrub. How high was the tree? Do you remember the leaves?

Franklinia Alatamaha?

Another one with that type of flower is Stewartia pseudocamelia

Thank you all for the input...but we have a winner! Ecrane3 it is the Gordonia....it wasn't in our area, it was down in Fresno, land of the hot hot summer....thank you again everyone...now I just have to send this info to my Mom, she'll be thrilled...
Cris

I would have thought it would be even unhappier in Fresno than it would be here, but I guess nobody told it that! LOL

LOL....I know what you mean about plants thriving where they shouldn't...my abutillon is supposed to like sun, but the only place it thrives is the side of the house that gets almost no sun but stays cool...I love that we had the call name right...fried egg...ha ha ha

How about Davidia involucrata http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/40/

Found it this time...you were probably right ecrane....this tree is from Africa so more likely the one from Fresno....I guess the old saying "keep it simple, stupid" fits me like a glove....I should have just googled Fried Egg Tree...ha ha ha ha hope the picture comes through, it came from another site
ONCOBA SPINOSA - Fried Egg Tree

Any chance you can get a picture of the real tree? Gordonia is also called fried egg tree and is certainly more common in cultivation than Oncoba, and the other suggestions here like Franklinia, Stewartia, Magnolia, etc all can have flowers that look like fried eggs even if they're typically not called fried egg tree. They are also more common in cultivation. Not to say it couldn't be the Oncoba, but since it's not something I've ever seen in a nursery that makes me wonder.

here's a link to the site I found that sells them....and there are quite a few images on this page
http://toptropicals.com/cgi-bin/garden_catalog/cat.cgi?uid=oncoba_spinosa

Trouble is without seeing a picture of the actual tree, it's very hard to say whether it's that one or one of the numerous others mentioned above which have flowers that look very similar. Unless the person whose yard it's in is an avid gardener who collects more unusual plants I still think one of the other much more readily available trees is a more likely possibility. But if you are just trying to buy something that has the fried egg looking flowers then that one certainly would give you the look you want.

I have my new abi's under a very shady tree (since the neighbor's dogs killed my year old plant on the side of the house) it gets much hotter in the front so I'll have to see how they do when summer hits...crossing my fingers

ecrane, I agree that it's very difficult to know from pictures, but it was so long ago (nearly 30 years) we aren't even sure the house still stands(urban renewal is a favorite passed time in Fresno). My mom and dad are going to take a drive to see if they can find it again. It definately was an eye catcher, hope it's still there.