Magnolia virginiana, most commonly known as sweetbay magnolia, or merely sweetbay (also laurel magnolia, swampbay, swamp magnolia, whitebay, or beaver tree), is a member of the magnolia family, Magnoliaceae. It was the first magnolia to be scientifically described under modern rules of botanical nomenclature, and is the type species of the genus "Magnolia"; as "Magnolia" is also the type genus of all flowering plants (magnoliophytes), this species in a sense typifies all flowering plants.