Facing equinox

Just a liiiiittle bit season-disoriented, these furry magnolia buds might bring to the last days of the summer the fresh iconic breeze of a next spring.

 ©BlueRidgeKitties [flickr]

 ©GabiV hopeful [flickr]

 ©innerMt [flickr]

 ©Jay D. [flickr]

 ©Jeremy jayharp79 [flickr]

 ©Jo Jones [flickr]

 ©klusf [flickr]

 ©Lisa Sheirer [flickr]

 ©mariegradypalcic [etsy]

 ©Miriam Poling [flickr]

 ©Paul Cooper [flickr]

 ©phoebedslr [flickr]

 ©Robert Ullmann [flickr]

©WestLothian [flickr]

Magnolia is an ancient genus. Having evolved before bees appeared, the flowers developed to encourage pollination by beetles. As a result, the carpels of Magnolia flowers are tough, to avoid damage by eating and crawling beetles. Fossilized specimens of M. acuminata have been found dating to 20 million years ago, and of plants identifiably belonging to the Magnoliaceae dating back to 95 million years ago. Another primitive aspect of Magnolias is their lack of distinct sepals or petals. The term tepal has been coined to refer to the intermediate element that Magnolia has instead. @Edwards Gardens - Toronto