Magnolia ‘Susan’ produces erect, long, tapered, deep claret-purple buds that open up to red-purple flowers with white-tinged purple-red interiors. The flowers can reach up to 15cm wide and have six tepals. They bloom in great abundance in late spring, from an early age. Additionally, the flowers are slightly fragrant. Magnolia ‘Susan’ grows upright and is multi-branched. Magnolia ‘Susan’ is deciduous, not native to New Zealand, and a hybrid between Magnolia liliiflora ‘Nigra’ and Magnolia stellata ‘Rosea’. Magnolia ‘Susan’ was raised before 1968 at the United States National Arboretum in Washington, D.C., United States and was named after Susan Skinner, the daughter of the then director of the United States National Arboretum, Henry Skinner.