8 MAGNOLIA GLAUCA. 



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ever, in autumn, and arc renewed early in tlie followint^ sprinc;. This tree begins 

 to flower in Florida and the southorii states, the last of Ajjrilor early in May, and 

 a month or six weeks later in Massachusetts. The llowers are single, two or three 

 inches broad, and are produced at the extremity of the last year's shoots. They 

 have six white concave petals, and an agreeable perfume, which maybe perceived 

 at a considerable distance. If shut up in a close apartment during the night, they 

 connnunicate to the air a heavy and almost insupportable odour. They are of 

 short duration, although the tree continues flowering for several months. It is not 

 unfrequent to find it in bloom, in the south, in autunm. The fruit is composed 

 of numerous cellules, and varies in length from an inch to an inch and a half, 

 and when of full size, is an inch in diameter in the widest part. When ripe, 

 the cones are of a reddish-brown, and the seeds, which are of a scarlet colour, 

 burst their cells, and hang down several days by white, lax, slender threads, as 

 in most of its congeners. 



Varieties. The only aboriginal varieties of this species are the M. g. arhorea. 

 which assumes the character of a tree ; and that which retains its foliage during 

 a greater part or all the year, and is sometimes called M. g. sempervireiis. Two 

 other varieties are noticcd'-by Pursli, one of which has the under surface of the 

 leaves somewhat silvery, and is called M. g. argentea, and another with longer 

 leaves than usual, called M. g. longifoUa. There are also two varieties, supposed 

 to be hybrids, produced between this species and the Magnolia umbrella. They 

 are usually known under the names M. g. thomj^soniana and M. g. longifoUa. 



Geography and History. The Magnolia glauca has the most extensive range, 

 especially near the sea, of any of the genus. It abounds from Massachusetts to 

 Louisiana and Missouri. Its most northern boundary may be considered a shel- 

 tered swamp in Manchester, Cape Ann, about thirty miles northerly of Boston. 

 It here attains but a small size, and is frequently killed to the ground by severe 

 winters. In the maritime parts of the Floridas and lower Louisiana, it is one of 

 the most abundant among the trees which grow in morasses or wet grounds. It 

 is not usually met with far interior, nor to the west of the Alleghanies. In the 

 Carolinas and Georgia, it grows only within the limits of the pine-barrens. 



This species was introduced into England by Rev. John Banister, who sent it 

 to Bishop Compton, at Fulham, in 1688. It was soon afterwards generally prop- 

 agated by American seeds, and became known throughout Europe mauA'- years 

 before any of the other species. At Woburn Farm, Chertsey, there was formerly 

 a row of these trees twenty feet high, and nearly a century old, which frequently 

 ripened their seeds. 



In France, and southern Europe generally, this species is not very abundant, 

 from the great heat of the summers, and the general dryness of the air. At Ver- 

 sailles and the Petit Trianon, as well as in Belgium, it has attained the height of 

 fifteen feet. In the north of Germany, and in Sweden and Russia, it is a green- 

 house plant. At Monza, in Italy, it is found in all of its varieties. 



In 1843, a tree of this species was cut by Dr. Torrey, on Long Island, New 

 York, nearly forty feet in height, and six or eight inches in diameter, which con- 

 tained about eighty concentric rings or annual layers. On the estate of Lemuel 

 W. Wells, in Yonkers, (formerly Philipsburgh,) New York, there is a Magnolia 

 glauca thirty feet in height, with a trunk six feet in circumference two feet above 

 the ground, and is supposed to be more than a hundred and fifty years old. 



Soil and Situation. In its natural habitat the Magnolia glauca grows most 

 abundantly in deep, boggy swamps and marshes, composed of a black, miry soil ; 

 but when cultivated in Europe or in this country, the soil should be a deep sand, 

 or a sandy peat, kept moist, more especially in summer. The situation should 

 be sheltered, and shaded by large trees, but it should not be overspread by 

 them. . 



