Magnolia, the dinosaur in your garden.

Are you enjoying the beautiful magnolias in bloom everywhere? Did you know that the Magnolia trees evolved some 90 million years ago in the late Cretateous period. These flowers were stared at by T-rexes and maybe even eaten by a diplodocus!  These trees were around before bees were invented and relied on beetles for pollination. To avoid damage by the pollinating beetles the magnolia created tough and leathery petals and carpels and with a tough, hairy outer shell called a bract, to protect the buds from damage by those big clumsy dinosaurs!