[3] Magnolia sharpii is a large tree, growing up to 25 meters tall with a trunk more than 50 cm in diameter.

[1] Magnolia sharpii is endemic to the Central Highlands of Chiapas, where it is known from scattered localities between 1,950 and 2,940 meters elevation.

[1] The species has a small, scattered population, and is threatened by severe deforestation across much of its range.

[1] Fossil records indicate that the species was widely distributed in North America during the Miocene, with widespread fossils from Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Central America.

Over 25 million years its range contracted, and the species is now limited to a disjunct distribution across a small area of Mexico.