Thecucumbertreeis properly calledMagnolia acuminata . It is in one of the honest-to-goodness plant families on the planet , having endure through ice age and continental drift . Fossilized remains ofM. acuminatahave been found go steady to 20 million year ago , and the magnolia genus has been here more than 100 million years . The flowers are where these plants show their age . The magnolias block developing jillion of class ago and have very uncomplicated flush that pull in beetle for pollination . The fused petals and sepal , twin with the prehistorical cone shape in the center , are definitely prehistorical looking .
There are 200 specie in the class , and all of them tend to look tropical and out of position in their aboriginal compass here in the United States . The cucumbertree is aboriginal primarily to Appalachia , though a few pockets exist outside the area . In Canada , this magnolia specie is list as jeopardise because of loss of home ground . In fact , a lot of other members of the magnolia family are disappearing from their gaga habitats for the same reason .
The cucumbertree does not have the distinctive big , bold or redolent flowers . The prime are small and camouflaged high up up in the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree . You might not notice the flowers , but you would be firmly pressed to miss the unripe fruit . Of course , they look like cucumbers . Like the other magnolia , when the fruit mature it break up open to reveal belittled , red , heavy cum .
M. acuminatahas medicinal and food purposes just like the residue of the magnolias . The flower can be pickled , and the leaves do to smack food and teas . The barque is used for asthma , stress and inflammatory disorder , as well as rest and digestive support . Traditionally , the bark of this Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree was used for fever . Also , it was a practiced replacement for quinine in some areas . There is good grounds to intimate that the magnolias are interchangeable when we are verbalise about their phytochemical . In China there is written history pop in 100 A.D. using magnolia for health and healing , so the cucumbertree could have exciting possibilities in your garden .
If you ’d like to constitute a cucumbertree , first find a large area aside from power line . This tree can reliably grow 49 to 66 feet tall . The trees can be startle from cuttings or even from seeds , but you ’ll wait much longer for the fruit if you go the source path . The hole you labor to plant your tree needs to be wider rather than deep . The trees have a branching root system that travels along the soil surface , make them difficult to transpose if you are search to move any good - size tree .
Magnolias like a soil that is slightly acidic , and they prefer a space that is well drained . In the case of the cucumbertree , it wish to live farther back in the woods and likes partial rather than full sun . Water your Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree well until it gets established , and then it is relatively upkeep barren . Cucumbertrees attract a across-the-board variety of wildlife while making excellent ghost tree . They serve as a reminder that just when I imagine I ’ve learned all the tree diagram around me , there is always something disgraceful waiting to be discovered
