Abstract: We investigated the annual growth and development rhythms, bud types, mixed bud differentiation, branching pattern, and flowering regularity of 10-year-old Michelia maudiae Dunn trees. Results showed that: (1) M. maudiae had undifferentiated and differentiated buds. The differentiated buds included vegetative, mixed, and flower buds. (2) The annual growth cycle was successively divided into vegetative bud growth, mixed bud differentiation, mixed bud rapid expansion, mixed bud/flower bud development retardation, flowering initiation, and flowering periods. (3) The branching pattern was mixed sylleptic and proleptic type. Sylleptic branches generated mixed buds that developed into annual axillary brachyblasts, where the flower initiated. Proleptic branches did not differentiate to form mixed buds in the same year. (4) The flower-bud formation probability of the different types of branches differed significantly. The terminal bud of the sylleptic branches had the highest flower-bud formation probability, while the axillary bud of the proleptic branches had the lowest. Thus, in M. maudiae, buds in different differentiation states developed into different types of branches. The sylleptic-proleptic branching characteristics and flower-forming laws have reference value and systematic evolutionary significance for the cultivation of ornamental traits.