UMBRELLA MAGNOLIA. 11 



nolia conspicua and purpurea. From the hardiness of this tree, no doubt, many 

 other hybrids may be produced between it and the more dehcate Chinese 

 species. 



Geography and History. The Magnoha umbrella, according to Michaux, is 

 first seen in the northern part of the state of New York, and is found on wooded 

 mountains, in Carolina, Georgia, and eastern Tennessee. In the lower parts of 

 Georgia and South Carolina, however, it is found near the alluvial flats which 

 lie along the banks of the rivers, in company with the Magnolia grandiflora. 



This tree was introduced into England in about 1752, and soon after it passed 

 into France, and was cultivated on the continent generally. It may now be con- 

 sidered as the most common of all the magnolias. In France and northern Italy 

 it seeds freely ; and even in England, at Deepdene, in Surrey, self-sown seeds 

 have produced plants. It does not thrive in the north of Scotland without pro- 

 tection. In England and middle Europe it attains the height of thirty feet, which 

 it will acquire in fifteen to twenty-five years. 



In the Bartram botanic garden, at Kingsessing, three miles below Philadel- 

 phia, there is a tree of this species, thirty-five feet in height, with a trunk three 

 feet in circumference. 



Soil and Situatioii. In its natural habitat, this tree grows only in the shade 

 where the soil is deep, strong, and fertile. When cultivated, the soil should be 

 a deep, rich, sandy loam, but not very moist, like that recommended for the 

 Magnolia glauca. 



The situation should be sheltered and shady, as the exposure to the sun, or . 

 the training against a wall is injurious. A sheltered glade, in a shrubbery or 

 wood, where it is sufiiciently distant from other trees not to be injured by the 

 roots, is the most desirable site. 



Propagation and Culture. In nurseries, this species should always be propa- 

 gated by seeds, although it may be multiplied by layers. In either case the 

 plants are kept in pots until required for final transplanting. The seeds should 

 be sown immediately after they are gathered, as otherwise they become 

 rancid and lose their vital qualities; though, if enveloped in moist moss, or earth, 

 they may be preserved for several months. As this tree is short-lived, and con- 

 sequently flowers young, there is not the same objection to raising plants of it 

 from seeds, as there is in the Magnolia grandiflora, which is a long-lived tree. 

 The umbrella magnolia is hardy, and can withstand the most rigorous winters, 

 when the summer has been sufficiently hot to ripen the wood. In Britain and 

 ae northern parts of the United States, it sends up various shoots from the roots, 

 to replace the stems, which are seldom of long duration ; so that a plant that has 

 stood thirty or forty years in one spot, has had its stems several times renewed 

 during that period. 



Properties and Uses. The wood of the Magnolia umbrella is spongy, brittle, 

 with a large pith, soft, porous, and of very little use. Hence it may be consid- 

 ered of little or no utility except for the purposes of ornament. 



