Althouse: At the Magnolia Café...

May 12, 2014

At the Magnolia Café...

... yellow.

24 comments:

Al&Bea said...: Wow!! Never seen yellow magnolias. All we seem to have in Maine is pinky-white. Much less vibrant; 5/12/14, 3:59 PM
YoungHegelian said...: Is that a "Butterflies" Magnolia tree? Because, let me tall ya, that tree doesn't look anything like the monster Southern Magnolia trees I grew up with in Alabama. They all had large waxed & stiff evergreen leaves, and had enormous white flowers that developed into "grenade" shaped cones with fire-engine red seeds.

Do the magnolias in Wisconsin have the "grenade" cones, too; 5/12/14, 4:28 PM
Will Richardson said...: Liriodendron tulipifera, Yellow Poplar Tulip Tree; 5/12/14, 4:37 PM
Will Richardson said...: I am wrong.; 5/12/14, 4:38 PM
MadisonMan said...: Love the scent of the magnolia. And then it's followed in short order by lilac.

Apologies to all the allergy-sufferers out there.; 5/12/14, 4:50 PM
rhhardin said...: I gathered up the photos I could find that reminded me of somebody's painting here.; 5/12/14, 5:55 PM
southcentralpa said...: in re: the new pictures, nothing says "rest" like still havin the purse strapped across your chest.; 5/12/14, 6:09 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "Liriodendron tulipifera, Yellow Poplar Tulip Tree."

No, it isn't! I've already discussed the genus Magnolia in yesterday's Magnolia post, along with the contention that what I'm showing is a "tulip tree," i.e., Liriodendron.

A tulip tree has very distinctive leaves, and this isn't that.; 5/12/14, 6:21 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Here is some discussion of yellow magnolias.; 5/12/14, 6:24 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "in re: the new pictures, nothing says "rest" like still havin the purse strapped across your chest."

A savvy lady never lets go of her handbag. Not out in public. Especially not while lolling about and possibly snoozing.; 5/12/14, 6:25 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "Is that a "Butterflies" Magnolia tree?"

I was trying to figure that out, but there are a number of yellow magnolias, and I was not sure.

I'll be going back to the Arboretum soon, and I'll see if I can find that one and check the tag.

Next time I photograph flowering trees in the Arb, especially the non-Southern magnolias that give rise to disputes, I'll photograph the tags for identification.

I know how you right-wingers love IDs.; 5/12/14, 6:28 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "I am wrong."

Just reading that now.

Sorry for the gratuitous pushback, but I'll leave it so you can see what "would" have happened if you hadn't self-corrected.; 5/12/14, 6:29 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Man, I have had too much coffee today.

Writing an exam is the task I am on.; 5/12/14, 6:29 PM
YoungHegelian said...: I know how you right-wingers love IDs.

'Cause we don't want no goddamn furrin' trees walking over the border & takin' up water & soil nutrients that's meant for Uhmerican trees, young lady!; 5/12/14, 6:41 PM
Irene said...: We have an "Elizabeth Magnolia," and it looks a bit like that.; 5/12/14, 7:39 PM
Big Mike said...: The exam should be easy! Take 10 of the most iffy examples of alleged abuse of executive power from Ted Cruz's list and ask the students to defend the constitutionality of what Obama did, or explain carefully why it is unconstitutional.

Bonus points if they can do both.; 5/12/14, 8:01 PM
Big Mike said...: When I was an undergrad at Illinois in Champaign-Urbana there was a wonderful magnolia right outside Lincoln Hall that would blossom in the spring even if it was snowing heavily. I've had a lot of respect for magnolias ever since.; 5/12/14, 8:06 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Magnolias are tough because they evolved before bees and depended on beetles for pollination. They needed to resist the damage beetles do. Bees are gentler, apparently.

That's something I learned today.; 5/12/14, 9:21 PM
Ann Althouse said...: @big mike

1. It's a Federal Jurisdiction exam.

2. I would never give an exam that politicized.; 5/12/14, 9:23 PM
Big Mike said...: @Althouse, I was just trying to lighten things up a little. The last line was meant to be a giveaway.

:-(

Sorry. You must not like creating exams any more than I did back in the day. But kudos to you for making up a new one instead of recycling an old one (where people might be able to sell a copy "just for study purposes").; 5/12/14, 9:31 PM
YoungHegelian said...: When I was a boy, we'd use the magnolia cones as play grenades when we played army. The stem was the "pin" we'd break off to "arm it".

My brother and I would also take turns whacking green sweet gum balls at each other with a tennis racket while the defender protected himself with a garbage can lid shield. Once, my shot went low & my brother's shield was too high and I walloped him right in the nuts with a sweet gum ball at supersonic speed. I still remember him keeling over in pain in the back yard.

Ah, boyhood memories!; 5/12/14, 10:25 PM
Ann Althouse said...: That made me remember monkey balls!; 5/12/14, 10:57 PM
Ann Althouse said...: From sycamore trees.

Can't remember anything we used them for though.; 5/12/14, 11:00 PM
YoungHegelian said...: That made me remember monkey balls!

Well, that's a mean thing to say about my brother's anatomy!; 5/12/14, 11:08 PM