Although concentrated in Appalachian regions, this species has several disjunct western populations, especially in the eastern Shawnee Hills and adjacent Knobs (s. Ind., c. Ky.), western Shawnee Hills (s. Ill.), in the Ozark Mts. (n. Ark, s. Mo.). in the loess bluffs of the Mississippi Rv. (from s. Ill. downstream), and in more hilly sections of the Gulf Coastal Plain. On the original landscape of Ky., it may have been most common in the Cumberland Mts. and nearby, but relatively infrequent in the "Low Hills Belt" between the mountains and the Cliff Section (Barton 1919, Braun 1950). Further documentation is needed for some of the outlying western populations. The coll. from SHEL (DHL) appears reliable but should be rechecked for potential cultivated status; see also Linney (1880). A traditional name for this species, and perhaps other magnolias, was "Indian physic", since the bark especially was used for diverse medicinal purposes (Moerman 1986). The complex chemistry deserves further investigation (Kelm & Nair 2000, Elansary et al. 2019). Despite this chemistry (or perhaps because), acuminata is often a preferred browse by deer (e.g. Royo et al. 2019).