Michelia

Spring flowers are appearing all over Wellington, all the usual sorts: daffodils, Prunus, snowdrops.  But there are a few rare treats too, like Michelia yunnanensis.  I saw these two bushes in the Botanic Gardens near the duckpond, with their white petals, dark leaves, and rusty buds.

Side-on, the flowers show the long floral axis typical of magnolias and their relatives, with spiraled flower parts.  The many separate small carpels will each develop into a one-seeded fruit.

Pink Magnolia campbellii is flowering now, and I saw a magnificent M. stellata today in Kelburn.  Sadly, I think our garden is probably too windy for these fragile flowers.