Magnolia 'Anne Leitner'

Michael Gottschalk, a German Magnolia grower (Lunaplant) gave us, in 2006, a seedling of his cross of Magnolia 'Black Tulip' with Magnolia 'J.C. Williams'. It flowered ten years later in mid-March : The first few flowers made such an impression on Philippe de Spoelberch that he promptly decided to name the plant after Anne Leitner, former secretary of the Belgian Dendrology Society who sadly passed away in 2013. The flowers are large, firm and delicately scented with a warm dark pink to purple colour both inside and outside (ruby red to magenta pink according to the RHS colour charts). They are 25 cm in diameter. The tree has a nice upright and slender silhouette.