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David E. Ross[_2_] · 10-05-2020, 01:11 AM posted to rec.gardens

On 5/9/2020 3:06 PM, wrote:
Hi I live in NEWNAN Ga and have the same thing. The tree is a Star
Magnolia and first year this happened. Tree obviously 15 or so years
old. I am trying to find out as well.

Those are fruit, formed when the flowers fade. Yes, they are dry and
not at all what you might think when you hear "fruit". To a botanist,
however, they are indeed fruit.

You might snap off any you can reach. A very few might form seeds,
which can stress the plant. Thus, you remove them before they mature.
This is the same thing as cutting away faded roses or other flowers
before they form seeds.

On a mature southern magnolia (M. grandiflora), these pods are large.
The red seeds form in surface holes. Generally, they are too high up in
the tree to remove. However, mature southern magnolias generally set
seeds without suffering much stress. A mature southern magnolia is a
very large tree, as much as 80 feet tall and spreading 60 feet. When
mature, your star magnolia (M. stellata) is more like a very large
shrub, not much more than 10 feet tall and spreading as much as 20 feet.
Thus, the stress of setting seeds is greater for your magnolia than for
a southern magnolia. Fortunately, the stress of setting seeds will NOT
shorten the life of your tree; it might only reduce next year's flowers.

--
David E. Ross
http://www.rossde.com/

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