Who hasn’t heard of the Magnolia, the name of a tree that carries with it an inevitable reminiscent character because it brings to mind one or many things at once: the unforgettable pseudonym of the protagonist of a children’s story, the title of a famous film, a celebrated play brought to the big screen, countless oil paintings with which artists, both anonymous and famous, have captured forever the charms of its flower, the indelible trail of a fine perfume, the name of a distant aunt or a woman of modest demeanor.
The Magnolia, popularly known as “Almanegra”, seems to produce the nostalgia of an anecdote that occurred in the past. In the eyes of some who have seen it grow in gardens or humid forests, in the central park of a town, near or far, it is not just a casual reminder of memories from the past. When delving into the characteristics of this species there is a story to tell: that the Magnolia has been a source of inspiration and starting point for an ambitious project that seeks to recover a third of the most endangered trees in Colombia.
Almanegra Project
Under the popular name by which the Magnolia is known in much of Colombia, the Women for Conservation Foundation, the ProAves Foundation, and the Swiss Franklinia Foundation joined forces to create the Almanegra Project, which will not only work for the recovery and conservation of the Magnolia, but will target many other species as well.
According to data provided by Sara Lara, president of W4C, “Colombia is home to more than 6,000 tree species. Of these, 20% are endemic. Of the 1,118 endemic tree species, 37% are considered endangered, primarily due to habitat loss. The Almanegra Project will achieve several key in situ conservation outcomes for 32 of the 100 most threatened tree species in the country, not to mention the benefits for a significant proportion of Colombian flora and fauna.”
This alliance will guarantee protection for just over 18,900 hectares of forest in 13 nature reserves that are critical for these species, as trying to conserve trees outside of protected areas is not the same. 720 hectares of private property will be acquired and protected throughout the country to conserve endangered trees, and 3,497 hectares of land will be restored through reforestation. Almanegra also plans to plant 16,000 trees of the 32 most endangered tree species. This process will yield training and employment opportunities for 65 women and 13 forest rangers within a minimum of three years. “We focus on tangible, high-impact actions based on new research on these species, promoting gender equity, law enforcement, sustainable livelihoods, and the diffusion of results in a national forum with entities from all over Colombia,” adds Isabella Cortes, executive director of Women for Conservation and coordinator of the tree nurseries. Fruits from the target trees will be manually collected by a total of 13 groups of women, who will then employ mechanisms that support the initial stages of seed growth. The process will require a great deal of love, patience, meticulous care, and determination.
The Magnolia, an ancient and resilient species
Ana María Rueda Urrego is a biologist from EAFIT University in Antioquia. She was born in Urrao, an area rich in forests, valleys, moorlands, fauna, and flora; a natural paradise nestled among the mountains of southwestern Antioquia. She grew up among magnolia trees, cumin trees, and oaks, smelling and biting leaves, fruits, and flowers of all colors, chasing insects that carried pollen throughout the countryside. Today she is 26 years old, but her role as a researcher has allowed her to continue those childhood pursuits: walking in the forest, climbing mountains, scaling trees, collecting, tasting, and smelling everything.
Over time and through her explorations of the Magnolia, she has become one of what she and others like her call “ magnoliers ,” that is, fanatical magnolia scholars, a network of curious experts from all empirical, academic and scientific backgrounds who, with each walk through the ProAves reserves and neighboring territories, have been able to unravel the mysteries of the charming but still indecipherable Magnoliaceae family, from which come the more than 40 species of magnolias that have been described in Colombia so far.
“The most diverse country is China , but here in the Neotropics, we have incredibly high diversity. Colombia is number one with 42 reported species and more in the process of being reported. This diversity is so incredible that 36 of these species are only from Colombia, that is, endemic. After Colombia, Mexico comes next. So Colombia is a hotspot, a hotspot of diversity, of an explosion of this very interesting group that, from its floral structure, tells us about its evolutionary history,” says Ana María.
When the biologist speaks of “evolutionary history,” she’s referring to one of the most surprising details of magnolias: their ancestral peculiarity. In the fossil record, a tool used by scientists around the world to reconstruct the stories of life on Earth, everything indicates that magnolias come from ancient lineages of flowering plants developed since the time of the dinosaurs when bees didn’t yet exist. However, beetles did, so these armored creatures were and continue to be their main pollinators.
“There are few studies on the pollination of Colombian magnolias. Many insects inhabit them, but most are flower visitors, since the ones that successfully pollinate are those whose structures are capable of carrying pollen from flower to flower. Bees, for their part, have been observed collecting [the Magnolia flower’s] scents in small pouches on the back of their legs, using these scents to attract females, but clearly, if they don’t carry the pollen, they won’t pollinate them, ” the young scientist asserts.
If there’s anything as fascinating as this story, it’s the Magnolia flower’s process for fertilization and reproduction. The magnolia flower is hermaphroditic, meaning it has both female and male structures within the same flower, so it has temporary mechanisms to prevent self-pollination.
“Magnolia flowers open one day as female and the next as male, and this order of opening depends on the species because sometimes the male structures mature before the female ones. They separate this into two phases, so a flower has a life cycle in which you see it open, then it partially closes, and eventually it reopens, and that’s when the pollinators come in. In fact, it’s super interesting because each Magnolia species has its own specific opening time; some prefer the morning, others the afternoon, and others the evening,” Rueda adds .
The beetle springs into action, and pollination is performed. A ritual that, by the grace of nature, according to fossil evidence, could have been continuing for more than 90 million years — a fact that adds to the numerous reasons why the Magnolia and its forms of survival are and will continue to be an inexhaustible source of inspiration for man.
“There are stories of “magnolieros” who, when they have climbed its branches and collected its flowers, have found beetles inside . There are records of beetles that stay to sleep in the Magnolia flower, because in fact the temperature there is warmer, and it is in their search for food, shelter or a mate that they carry out pollination, and this makes it a quite interesting relationship from an ecological point of view,” explains the young scientist.
Another of the Magnolia’s admirable traits is the remarkable adaptability they have managed to develop over so many years of existence. They are found at 3,000 meters above sea level in high Andean or mountain forests, in temperatures reaching 7 degrees Celsius (43 degrees Fahrenheit). However, they have also been seen in areas located less than 500 meters above sea level, as well as in the Amazon region and the Middle Magdalena River.
“They tend to have very specific adaptations; you’ll almost always find them in well-preserved forests. It’s a fact that wherever there are magnolias, it’s most likely a lovely forest. You usually find them near a stream or a ravine; they like humidity and water, and in terms of soil conditions, they have important relationships with fungi, like almost all trees, which allows them to access soil nutrients more easily and coexist in forest ecosystems. What we’ve learned from recent years of research on forest networks is that individuals in the plant kingdom, rather than competing, actually help and cooperate with each other,” the biologist emphasizes.
In the municipal parks of the Coffee Axis, it is very common to see Magnolia trees that have been described and named according to the places where they have grown. Magnolia guatapensis in Guatapé, M. jardinensis in Jardín, or M. yarumalensis in Yarumal. The list of these examples is abundant, as is the appearance of the Magnolia when it reaches maturity. It can grow up to 43 meters high with spherical crowns. Magnolia trees, being so striking due to their interesting evolutionary history, their beautiful flowers, aromatic leaves, and their ornamental use, are considered “umbrella species” because of their impressive range and the habitat they provide to so many organisms. “Carrying out conservation studies will improve the conservation status of their habitat and the surrounding species,” emphasizes the expert .
Based on all the information presented here, one might think the Magnolia’s survival on the planet is guaranteed. But no. Today, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), they are endangered due to major threats, the greatest being agriculture, logging, and timber exploitation. In Colombia, more than 70% of the 42 described species are threatened, vulnerable, or in danger of extinction. Those that aren’t, the expert clarifies, are because they haven’t been evaluated.
“This group has been severely affected because their wood is very valuable. They are trees with very fine, beautiful wood. Sometimes when they are cut, there are dark veins in the center and these veins are very striking, which is why some people call them Almanegra (Black Grain). They also shine and seem to have light or frost,” says Ana María Rueda, who also recalls how in her native environment she often saw Magnolia trees cut down without the awareness that the decline of this species has awakened among new generations today. In addition to its attractiveness and beauty, it provides, as already mentioned, ecosystem services to other plants and animals and is an indicator of the good condition of Colombia’s forests.
Paradoxically, this unique appearance of its trunks is what has condemned it to its gradual disappearance. It’s not the magnolia’s fault that it’s so striking. It’s the magnolia that bears those sweet-smelling white flowers streaked with shades of cream and yellow, if we’re talking about the most common in Colombia; it’s the magnolia that germinates those large, woody, conical fruits, so profuse with follicles and seeds that they’re used to make chocolate-churning grinders; it’s the magnolia that boasts those greenish, fragrant leaves with ornamental, medicinal, and culinary uses. It’s the magnolia that, in short, is one of the most dazzling and multifaceted species in the plant kingdom of this country. That’s why it must be protected.
Guardians of magnolias
Yuliana Benitez Osorio is the wife of the ranger of the Arrierito Antioqueño Reserve, in the municipality of Anorí . She has a 17-year-old son who has grown up immersed in environmental stewardship since childhood. But by her own choice, Yuliana has also taken charge of caring for other children: six seedlings of a type of Magnolia, the Coronata , known as the Crowned Black Magnolia , which is critically endangered in this area, according to the IUCN.
Yuliana learned to plant and care for coffee, tomato, passionfruit, and home gardens, but never magnolias. Three months ago, she joined the budding group of women from the Almanegra project, tasked with learning and implementing everything related to its recovery, from the management of fruits and seeds, their germination, care, and development until the seedlings can be transplanted to nurseries where they grow the baby trees that will later be suitable for planting in the forests.
“We walked through the forest, and I learned to distinguish magnolia leaves, to distinguish the tree itself. Before, I knew nothing about magnolias. It’s very interesting, especially knowing that they’re on the verge of extinction and that we can help in their recovery. The seeds are in my house, where I protect them from pests. We keep them in a container with everything they need to grow. We take care of them by watering them and putting them in the sun so they can become healthy seedlings and continue their growth,” Yuliana says .
Biologist Ana María Rueda explains that in the post-harvest process, “the fruits are collected closed, and they open with the sun. They have to be taken out like puppies in the sun, brought in when it’s raining, when there’s fog; it’s a process of care and tenderness. Then the seeds are recovered, their viability is checked, and they take up to two months to germinate. For a seed to become a tree suitable for the forest, it can take 1 year and 6 months.”
At the same time, in the Regional Natural Park ProAves Las Tángaras Reserve, municipality of Carmen de Atrato, Chocó, Fanis Mosquera watches with equal zeal and care the seeds that were given to him on request. They are the product of the opening of the fruits collected from the tops of Magnolia chocoensis and Magnolia lenticellata, other species that despite having few fruits, have produced viable seeds, thus feeding the hope of conserving this prolific family of angiosperms (flowering plants).
“My job is to place the fruit in the sun so it opens and the seeds are exposed. Then, I place it in a small glass of water to hydrate it. I count the seeds, observe which ones grow or fall, write everything down on a form, and record which ones have fungus. I monitor their germination and growth at home. I had seen the flowers and leaves, but I didn’t realize that this was such an important species and that it was at risk of disappearing,” Fanis emphasizes.
It is meticulous work that calls on the patience and dedication of these mothers, wives, and volunteers called upon to invest all their wisdom and skills in caring for life while simultaneously creating alternatives or tools for sustainable livelihoods, such as creating nurseries, training in landscaping, gardening, or in the ornamental uses of the much-admired and enchanting Magnolia.
In this planting phase, as part of the Almanegra Project, Fanis, Yuliana, Monica, Luz, Andrea and Ana Maria are the guardians of the Magnolias, women who have put on their boots, like some of their colleagues, the rangers, to patrol each ProAves reserve and join this great crusade to learn, observe, collect, care for, and record every event and detail that occurs with the 42 species that exist in Colombia and with those that are yet to be discovered, because there is still a lot of information to collect.
“Of the 42 species known to exist in Colombia, we have identified 19, we have found more than 300 magnolia individuals, most of them within the ProAves reserves, but we continue searching in the western mountain range towards Nariño, working as a community with the help of people and property owners where we find new specimens,” concludes Ana María Rueda, the expert biologist who leads the fruitful work of men and women united to save the Magnolia from extinction.
Women for Conservation, in partnership with ProAves and Franklinia, works to recover the most threatened tree species.