magnolia

Everyday

1. A magnolia is a tree or bush with large, beautiful white, pink or purple flowers that often open in spring before the leaves. tree →
2. Magnolia is also a pale creamy-white colour, often used for painting walls. tree →
3. The flower of this tree is also called a magnolia. tree →

In the lessons

In science and nature lessons magnolias are a flowering plant and one of the oldest kinds of flowering tree; in everyday life they grow in gardens and parks. In the UK, "magnolia" paint is famous as a plain, safe wall colour, so "magnolia walls" can mean a boring room. Phrases: "magnolia tree", "in bloom", "painted magnolia".

Examples

• The magnolia in our front garden is covered in pink flowers. tree →
• Magnolia flowers are big and smell sweet. tree →
• The new flat had magnolia walls everywhere. tree →
• We painted the hall magnolia because Dad didn't like bright colours. tree →
• Bees crawled into the magnolia blossoms. tree →
• Magnolias are some of the oldest flowering plants on Earth. tree →
• Petals from the magnolia covered the path like snow. tree →
• She held out to him a big white magnolia leaf. tree →

Note

Countable for the tree or flower (magnolias); uncountable for the colour. The word comes from a person's name (a French botanist called Magnol). Magnolia trees are famous in the southern USA; "Magnolia State" is a nickname for Mississippi.