Anthocyanin synthase (ANS), which catalyzes the conversion of colorless leucoanthocyanins into colored anthocyanins, is a key enzyme in the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway. It plays important roles in plant development and defense. An ANS gene designated as MsANS was cloned from Magnolia sprengeri using rapid amplification of complementary DNA (cDNA) ends technology. The full-length MsANS is 1171-bp long and contains a 1080-bp open reading frame encoding a 360 amino acid polypeptide. In a sequence alignment analysis, the deduced MsANS protein showed high identity to ANS proteins from other plants: Prunus salicina var. cordata (74 % identity), Ampelopsis grossedentata (74 % identity), Pyrus communis (73 % identity), and Prunus avium (73 % identity). A structural analysis showed that MsANS belongs to 2-oxoglutarate (2OG)- and ferrous iron-dependent oxygenase family because it contains three binding sites for 2OG. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction analyses showed that the transcript level of MsANS was 26-fold higher in red petals than in white petals. The accumulation of anthocyanins in petals of white, pink, and red M. sprengeri flowers was analyzed by HPLC. The main anthocyanin was cyanidin-3-o-glucoside chloride, and the red petals contained the highest concentration of this pigment.