Magnolia virginiana

Sweetbay magnolia
Magnolia virginiana var. australis flower, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, accession #1275-80*A
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Secure  (NatureServe)[2]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Magnoliids
Order:	Magnoliales
Family:	Magnoliaceae
Genus:	Magnolia
Section:	Magnolia sect. Magnolia
Species:	M. virginiana
Binomial name
Magnolia virginiana L.

Magnolia virginiana, most commonly known as sweetbay magnolia, or merely sweetbay (also laurel magnolia, swampbay, swamp magnolia, white bay, or beaver tree),^[3] is a member of the magnolia family, Magnoliaceae. It was the first magnolia to be scientifically described under modern rules of botanical nomenclature, and is the type species of the genus Magnolia; as Magnolia is also the type genus of all flowering plants (magnoliophytes), this species in a sense typifies all flowering plants.