The Magnoliaceae are a flowering plant family, the magnolia family, in the order Magnoliales. It consists of two subfamilies: Magnolioideae, of which Magnolia is the best-known genus, and Liriodendroidae, a subfamily, of which Liriodendron (tulip trees) is the only genus.
Family Key- The flowers also have parts not distinctly differentiated into sepals and petals, while angiosperms that evolved later tend to have distinctly differentiated sepals and petals. The poorly differentiated perianth parts that occupy both positions are known as tepals.
Magnoliaceae would include only two genera, Magnolia and Liriodendron, The family has about 219 species across the World.
Botanicalname: Magnolia champaca
(L.) Baill. ex Pierre
Common Name: Champa, Joy Perfume Tree • Hindi: เคเคฎ्เคชा Champa • Manipuri: เฆฒৈเฆนাเฆ Leihao • Marathi: Son Champa • Tamil: Sambagan • Telugu: Champangi • Kannada: Sampige • Bengali: เฆเฆฎ্เฆชা Champa • Odia: Chompa • Konkani: Pudchampo • Urdu: Champa ฺู
ูพุง • Assamese: Tita-sopa • Sanskrit: Champaka
Syn: Michelia champaca L.
Crown -Champa is a large evergreen tree with a close tapering conical to cylindrical crown . It is best known for its strongly fragrant yellow or white flowers. It is, however, primarily cultivated for its timber, and is also used in urban landscaping. Its aril-covered seeds are highly attractive to birds.
Habit- Trees, buttressed, up to 30 m tall.
Trunk & Bark- Bark grey, lenticellate; blaze cream with orange speckles.
Branches and Branchlets- Branchlets terete with annular scars of caducous stipules, glabrous; apical bud covered by sericeous lanceolate stipules.
Leaves- Leaves simple, alternate, spiral; petiole 1-3 cm long, stout and planoconvex in cross section; lamina 9.5-25 x 3.5-9 cm, elliptic-lanceolate, apex acuminate with twisted acumen, base acute to attenuate, margin slightly undulate, glabrous, chartaceous; midrib nearly flat above; secondary nerves 12-16 pairs; tertiary nerves closely and strongly reticulate.
Inflorescence / Flower- Flowers solitary, axillary, large, yellow, fragrant.
Fruit and Seed- Follicles, warty, 2-3 cm long, arranged as spike, dehiscing dorsally; seeds 1, scarlet. Occasional trees in low and medium elevation evergreen forests, up to 2400 m.
Uses- The aromatic, bitter bark is sometimes used for the adulteration of cinnamon. The bark is used as a febrifuge, The flowers are used to treat leprosy, The flowers yield an essential oil known as champa or champaca oil, It is used in perfumery.
Propagation- Germination takes from 5 weeks to 4 months, Seed viability can be maintained by moist storage at 5°c for about 7 months or in pits at 13°c for about 4 months. The germination rate of the seed is generally poor.It also respond to Graffting.
P K DAS
Biodiversity and Conservation Lab.
Ambika Prasad Research Foundation
Bhubnaswar, Odisha
