- Scientific Name: Magnolia insignis Wall.
- Ref: Tent. Fl. Napal.:5. 1824
- Synonyms: Magnolia shangpaensis Hu, Manglietia insignis (Wall.) Blume, M. maguanica Hung T.Chang & B.L.Chen, M. rufisyncarpa Y.W.Law, R.Z.Zhou & F.G.Wang, M. yunnanensis Hu
- English Common Name: red lotus tree
- Chinese Common Name: 红色木莲 hóngsè mùlián, 红花木莲 hónghuā mùlián
- Family: Magnoliaceae
- Genus: Magnolia
- Distribution: Evergreen broad-leaved forests; 900-1200 m. Guangxi, Guizhou, SW Hunan, SW Sichuan, SE Xizang, Yunnan [NE India, N Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand].
- Photo: 05/12/2013
Trees, to 30 m tall, to 20 cm d.b.h. Twigs glabrous or nodes ferruginous to yellowish brown pubescent when young. Stipular scar 0.5-1.2 cm. Petiole 1.8-3.5 cm; leaf blade narrowly ovate or elliptic, 10-26 × 4-10 cm, leathery, adaxially glabrous, midvein abaxially reddish brown pubescent or scattered appressed hispidulous, basal ca. 2/3 tapered to base, apex acuminate to caudate-acuminate. Brachyblasts thick and strong, 8-10 mm in diam.; bract scar 1, ca. 1 cm basal to tepals. Flowers fragrant. Tepals 9-12; outer 3 tepals abaxially brown and adaxially reddish to purplish red, obovate-oblong, ca. 7 cm, curved outward; middle and inner tepals milky whitish pink, obovate-spatulate, 5-7 cm, erect, basal ca. 1/4 tapered and clawed. Stamens 1-1.8 cm; filaments nearly as long as exserted part of connective; connective exserted and forming a triangular mucro; thecae slightly distinct. Gynoecium terete, 5-6 cm; carpels glabrous, abaxially shallowly furrowed. Fruit purplish red when fresh, ovoid-ellipsoid, 7-12 cm; mature carpels tuberculate, completely dehiscing along dorsal sutures. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Aug-Sep. 2n = 38. (Flora of China)
