Revered by gardeners since ancient times, when they were brought into cultivation in Asia, magnolias have lost none of their allure. In fact, a steady supply of new magnolias has become available in recent years, from both newly discovered species and newly created hybrids, making the genus a source of greater horticultural excitement than ever before. Though loosely based on the author's 1989 book of the same name, Magnolias is so extensively revised and expanded as to be considered an entirely new book. This highly illustrated survey of the genus includes species and hybrids, extensive information on cultivation and propagation, and more than 150 fine photographs. The appendices list societies, plants for specific landscape situations, plants that have received awards, and places to see and buy magnolias.

Jim Gardiner is currently president of the Magnolia Society and curator of the Royal Horticultural Society's Garden at Wisley.

In the journal of the Magnolia Society (1994) Dick Figlar of Pomona, New York, related how in 1971 Francis Krenbaum had been grading a section of his land near Clarkia, Idaho, in the valley of the St. Maries River, when he uncovered the best-preserved Miocene (5-25 million years ago) plant fossil site in the world. What he had exposed were black leaves being turned in the soft shale; some were even blowing in the wind. Charles Smiley of the University of Idaho at Moscow over the ensuing years discovered more than 130 plant species of Magnolia thought to be 17-20 million years old. As well as those trees associated with the modern-day North American flora, including species of Liriodendron, Liquidambar, Taxodium, Diospyros, Nyssa, and so on, they also found several genera confined to eastern Asia, including Metasequoia, Cunninghamia, Zelkova, and Paulownia. Figlar related how in 1991 he and his wife, Anita, were allowed to visit the main site and to dig for fossil leaves including those of Magnolia latahensis and a second species that resembled M. acuminata. Also discovered by Smiley was an immature fruit aggregate resembling M. grandiflora. Close examination indicated nine tepals, about 250 stamens, and 120 carpels, all well within the ranges of today's M. grandiflora.