The Introduction and Acclimatization of Magnolias in French Botanic Gardens and Arboreta

摘要

France is a country with several centuries of horticultural and botanical culture and many first introductions in Europe have been on French soil. The genus Magnolia is highly admired, as much for its natural history as for its ornamental qualities. In honour of a remarkable botanist of the Montpellier Botanic Garden, even the name of the genus reflects this. What follows is a status report of French introductions in the Magnoliacea family. Equally, there is a presentation of those individuals who have contributed - and who continue to contribute - to increasing our knowledge of this family. Finally, I will present an overview of the chief taxa that have been introduced accompanied by examples from different private and public botanic collections. As we will see, some of them have manifested the remarkable adaptative capacities of this genus that has been evolving with success for millions of years.