The Teddy Bear Magnolia was discovered as a seedling by Robert and Lisa Head in 1985 at their farm in South Carolina (Head-Lee Nursery). At an age of 26 years old, the mother tree of the Teddy Bear Magnolia stands at 26’ tall and 14’ wide and it has a very dense and upright pyramidal crown. The dense growth habit of the Teddy Bear Magnolia is self perpetuated by its multiple branching breaks from each spent flower giving numerous shortened branches. The Teddy Bear Magnolia has beautiful oval shaped leaves that are 5 to 8 inches long and 3 to 4 inches wide. Teddy Bear Magnolias have leaves that are dark green and glossy on top and the underside is covered with bronze brown colored fuzz and like all other grandiflora cultivars their leaves are thick and leathery. Starting in May and lasting through October the Teddy Bear Magnolia produces large fragrant creamy white saucer shaped flowers that are 8 inches wide. The Teddy Bear Magnolia differs from the Little Gem Magnolia in the following characteristics: Teddy Bear Magnolias have more compact and narrower canopies, they have stronger and more upright lateral branches, they produce fewer flowers, their leaves are wider, and they grow slower than Little Gems.