Magnolias are mainly grown as specimen trees, their great interest being the large, showy, flowers that in many species appear on bare stems before the leaves open. They also produce wonderful cone-like fruits that split to reveal shiny, red-coated seeds in autumn.

Magnolia stellata 'Waterlily' is a shrub that produces large, open, starry, pure white flowers on bare stems before the leaves appear. This cultivar has twice the number of petals as the straight species