Definition of magnolia

The word "magnolia" is derived from the Latin name of a tree, Magnolia grandiflora, which was first described by a French botanist named Carolus Linnaeus in the 18th century. The tree, native to the southeastern United States, was named in honor of Pierre Magnol, a French physician and botanist who played an important role in the development of modern botany during the 17th century. Magnol coined many botanical terms and established a comprehensive classification system for plants, which influenced the work of Linnaeus and other later scientists in the field. The lavish, showy blooms of the magnolia, which typically appear in early spring, earned it the name "grandiflora" from Linnaeus, meaning "large flower." Today, the word "magnolia" is commonly used to refer not just to the tree, but also to the beautiful, fragrant flowers it produces, as well as to a range of plant species in the Magnoliaceae family that are unrelated to the magnolia tree but share certain characteristics with it.