Sweetbay Magnolia – Magnolia virginiana | Fragrant Bayou Healing Tree

The Fragrant Healer of the Louisiana Wetlands

Sweetbay Magnolia (Magnolia virginiana) is the magnolia of the bayou — smaller and more graceful than its grand Southern cousin, with creamy white, lemon-scented blooms that perfume the air from late spring through summer. It thrives in the wet, acidic soils of Louisiana’s swamp edges and rain gardens. Traiteurs used the bark as a fever remedy and bitter tonic, and the leaves in poultices for skin conditions. Its silvery-backed leaves shimmer in the breeze, and its red berries feed songbirds in fall.

• Light: Full sun to part shade
• Evergreen: Semi-evergreen
• Maintenance: Low

Fragrant, beautiful, and rooted in the healing tradition of the Louisiana bayou.