Might be freeze cracking from info provided. Nothing you can do physically to fix it but wait and hope the tree recovers.

Dan

Even though you didn't see the damage last year, it was there. May have occurred 1st winter in the ground.

It's obvious now because the tree is in the process of covering a rather wide wound. The evidence for that is the light-colored tissue extending the length of each side of the wound. That tissue is slowly moving toward the center.

Nothing to do at this time except wait.

Or, if you're considering replacing the tree, do it this fall. The reason? The longer you keep the tree, the more reluctant you will be to start over with a vigorous specimen.

Do you have a deer situation? Reason I ask is that although deer do not eat magnolia leaves (listed as deer resistant), they seem to love to use their smooth bark during the November rut (at least in my experience).--Tulip trees are in the Magnolia family and I'm assuming they have a similar bark. I would say I have about four trees that have suffered bark damage to some extent (three evergreen grandifloras and a deciduous star magnolia). The star magnolia must have been here for decades and looks like it was repeatedly wounded by the deer--on the same northern side. Still, it flowered beautifully and leafed out normally. If it is a deer problem, you can always temporarily wrap them for the fall rutting season. DO NOT APPEAL ANY TYPE OF WOUND SEALANT! Mechanical wounds seal better without any treatment. Good luck!

its on the south of the tree.. either SW or S ... yes???

sun scald..

winter sun brought that side of a recently transplanted tree out of dormancy in the middle of winter..

with the lack of proper water to aid the tree.. a wound was formed..

i also suspect it was 2 winters ago ...

its just showing know. ...

i would trim out the dead bark ... so bugs cant live underneath..

otherwise.. trees heal themselves ... no need to cut it down ..

ken

ken a has nailed it. Sunscald. This is not a magnolia, but from the foliage it appears to be a tulip tree, Liriodendron tulipifera. Like other thin barked trees it is subject to damage in winter from sunscald.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sunscald

Note also the damage on the north side of the tree. Nonetheless, there is not much to do with the tree. I would hesitate to peel off bark, for fear of losing that insulation and being subject to the freeze-thaw cycle again. It's bad damage and echoing what was written above, maybe a tree that when young is thicker-barked might be appropriate for that site.

Dan

If I read the original poster correctly, this tree is a volunteer seedling that wasn't planted. Then it being a newly transplanted tree suffering from sun scald do to transplanting wouldn't hold. Although it's still possible it is sun scald do to some unusual circumstances happening. Either way it looks like it's physical damage which will be grown over by surrounding healthy wood eventually if all goes well. I would clean out any debris and bark and break off any loose bark with my fingers(not with a tool which could cause more damage), so it won't harbor any bugs, like Ken said, nor holding water and potential fungal/rot or freeze/thaw problems.

I also agree this damage happened a while ago, but is just now becoming visible. The suckers you trimmed off last year were probably the 1st sign of and 1st response of the tree to the damage.

i would NOT PEEL the bark off ...

i would cut it out with hand pruners .... i would NOT worry about 100% removal ...

in doing so.. i remove a home for bugs.. and a trap for moisture ...

most problems in trees.. conifers.. heck anything.. are mysteries .... it really doesnt matter here .. because.. the tree will do one of two things..

heal itself..

or die ...

and i doubt it will die

ken

I also am of the belief that Liriodendron tulipifera (tuliptree) is of the magnolia family, per a university botanical website I visited a while ago. Also, I would definitely wrap this tree with some sort of paper-type tree-wrap this next winter (banish the thought of winter), just to be on the safe side. You could also call your local state extension service for advise on whether you should do anything or not. Tuliptrees are the best.

Let me clarify what I mean by removing the loose bark and debris with your fingers. I'm not saying to peel the bark off, but break off the loose dried out bark over the dead parts of the trunk. No peeling, as you could easily start to peel off live bark still attached to the dead bark. I prefer to push in on the dead bark until it breaks off, instead of pulling out on it, since that could lead to it peeling off instead of breaking off. If you leave dead bark over the area it will obstruct and slow the progress of the live wood from surrounding undamaged areas growing over the dead damaged parts. Not to mention all the potential for harboring disease and pests as well as a trap for water in the winter and causing more damage. There have been many studies that demonstrate cleaned out physical injuries to trees heal much faster than those that aren't cleaned out. Also, I'm only talking about the bark and any loose debris! Don't cut out or try to clean out the exposed heartwood(the solid dead looking inner trunk when you take off the dead bark)!

Again, the rounded off, maybe even swollen looking areas surrounding the damage is live wood growing over the dead area and don't mess with that part nor peel any bark off of it!

Well, there we go: my objection to peeling off bark is rescinded, now that we have good instructions to follow thx to kman. And I'm generally against tree wrap but this particular tree might need it this year to give it a better chance of making it (other thoughts by others sure to follow).

And Liriodendron is indeed in the Magnoliaceae, you can see that in the flower structure.

Dan

Another option is to coppice the tree to promote one healthy (decay free) stem. This is ideally done in the winter time because the tree has just expended a lot of energy to put on the leaves. You could do this next winter by cutting it back to ground level, as close as possible is best. Multiple buds will form new stems off of the stump (similar to the ones you have cut back). Chose one vigorous stem originating as close to ground level as possible and leave it to grow. Stump sprouts will often grow 4-8 feet in the first year because of the large intact root system.

Wow, Thanks for all the advice and the link the Penn States site. I will clean away the lose bark and wrap it this fall.

Hi, just saw this post, and am wondering how your tree is doing. You said the tree was in the open part of your two-acre lawn. I'm thinking wind damage, i.e., when the tree was young and not staked, the wind bent it so it split. The reason I think this is that I have the same situation with my weeping cherry that I bought 2 years ago. The trunk was just too thin to withstand severe winter winds. My tree's big spit is on its north side. It looks just like yours, the healthy tissue mounding around it to heal it. I too never staked my tree. Just having figured out what I think the cause of the damage is, I decided to stake it this winter to get it through the winter and spring winds, and give it chance to heal. My theory is that without staking, the tree will make progress toward healing but since it's weakened by damage, it will get re-wounded when there is high wind, especially in the winter when the wood is more dry and brittle.

If you get this post, please let us know how your tree is doing.