Magnolia x soulangeana ‘Old Port’ features wine-red flowers with an off-white interior that bloom in the spring before the leaves appear. The flowers have a delicate fruity scent and consist of six tepals that are typically 9cm long by 6cm wide. Magnolia x soulangeana ‘Old Port’ is suitable as a lawn specimen or a feature tree. Magnolia x soulangeana is deciduous, not native to New Zealand, and a hybrid between Magnolia denudata and Magnolia liliiflora. Learn more about Magnolia x soulangeana. Magnolia x soulangeana probably occurred spontaneously in Japanese gardens or nurseries a long time ago. However, it was first recognised from deliberate crosses made by Étienne Soulange-Bodin (1774 – 1846). Étienne was a retired cavalry officer in Napoleon’s army who became a plantsman and gardener. He first made the Magnolia x soulangeana cross in 1820 at his home in Fromont, France. Magnolia x soulangeana ‘Old Port’ was selected in 1992 by Vance Hooper at Duncan & Davies Nurseries in New Plymouth, New Zealand.