Tree Information

Common Name: cucumbertree

Scientific Name: Magnolia acuminata

Native/Naturalized: Native to Virginia

Database ID: 71

Status: alive

National Champion: no

Virginia Champion: no

Circumference: 276 in.

Height: 57 ft.

Crown: 98 ft.

Points: 358

Date Last Measured: 2015

Last Measured by: Jon Matiuk, Eric Wiseman, and Joel Koci

Date First Measured: 1986

Comments: Originally nominated in the 1970s by Betty Reid of the Virginia Travel Council. Re-nominated in 1986 by Julian Young, curator of the Violet Bank Museum. Newspaper article and old photos on file. Believed to have been planted in 1718. Tree is healthy and protected. Significant cabling and lighting protection in place. Lightning protection has worked in past as evident by black scorch on bark along cable. This tree has historical significance since it is in the yard of General Lee's headquarters during the siege of Petersburg during the Civil War. General Lee could hear the explosion of the "crater" from this location. Some think the tree was given to the original owner of the home by Thomas Jefferson.

Brian Kelley with Gathering Growth Foundation published a nice photo essay on this tree in June 2021: https://www.gatheringgrowth.org/trees-of-significance/violet-bank-cucumber-magnolia