The Cucumber Magnolia is usually a medium-sized tree in landscapes of about 30 to 50 feet, but it often gets 75 to 100 feet in nature. It grows in upland forest from western New York and some spots in the southern tip of Ontario down through most of Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio down the Appalachians to northern Georgia to areas of Alabama-Mississippi-Louisiana and then around the Ozark Region to southern Illinois & Indiana. It has large leaves about 4 to 10 inches long x 2 to 5 inches wide that turn yellow or ashy brownish in fall. It bears yellow-green solitary flowers that are located higher up in the tree and masked by foliage, so not real conspicuous. It bears 2 to 3 inch long pinkish-red follicles that resemble cucumbers in October. It is medium to fast growing of 1.5 to 3 feet/year and lives about 150 years. I've seen some planted in estates, arboretums, and parks in southeast Pennsylvania and the Chicago area. It is not commonly planted, though it is a good shade tree. It is sold by some larger diverse nurseries and native plant nurseries. There is a natural variety of this species that is the Yellow Cucumbertree, Magnolia acuminata subcordata from North Carolina & Georgia, that is smaller of about 20 to 30 feet high and that truly yellow flowers that can be seen with some cultivars. Recently, a number of cultivars of yellow blooming magnolias have come from the hybridizing of this more yellow variety with the Yulan Magnolia (M. denudate) from China, as 'Butterflies' and 'Elizabeth.'

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