During the spring season, Magnolia x loebneri ‘Merrill’ is covered in a blanket of star-shaped white flowers, which typically range from 10cm to 15cm in width and can contain as many as 15 tepals. It starts blooming at a young age and has a spreading growth habit, featuring a broad crown. Magnolia x loebneri is deciduous, not native to New Zealand, and a hybrid between Magnolia kobus and Magnolia stellata that was first produced before 1914 by Max Löbner in Pillnitz, Dresden, Germany. Magnolia x loebneri ‘Merrill’ was raised in 1939 by one of Karl Sax’s students at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Magnolia x loebneri ‘Merrill’ was named after a former director of the Arnold Arboretum, Elmer Merrill.