POINTED-LEAVED MAGNOLIA. 15 



coloured, and, as in the fruit of the other species, the seeds, before they drop 

 remain suspended for some time by long, white threads. 



Varieties. As this species is frequently raised from seeds, and as the seedlings 

 vary much in the size and form of their leaves, -and in the presence or absence 

 of pubescence, both on the leaves and the young shoots, it would be easy to 

 select several varieties apparently marked with distinctness. It may be deemed 

 sufficient, however, to enumerate the following : 



1. M. A. coRDATA, Loudou. MugnoUer a feiiilles en coRiir, in France ; Herz- 

 hlditriger Bieberbaiiin, in Germany; and Heart-leaved Cucumber-tree, in Brit- 

 ain and America. This variety, in its general appearance and in the form of 

 its fruit, very nearly resembles the type of this species. It is found grov.ing in 

 insulated situations on the banks of the rivers in upper Georgia, and on those of 

 the streams which traverse the western part of iSputh Carolina. It appears to 

 have been discovered by the elder Michanx, and was first introduced into England 

 by John Lyon, in 1801. The original tree is said still to exist in the nursery of 

 Messrs. Loddiges, at Hackney, in England, and is about fifteen feet in height. In 

 its natural habitat, it attains an elevation of forty or fifty feet, with a trunk twelve 

 or fifteen inches in diameter. Its leaves are from four to six inches in length, and 

 from three to five inches in width, are somewhat ovate or cordate, acute, with their 

 under surfaces tomentose, and their upper ones smooth. Its flowers, which are 

 odoriferous, appear in Georgia in April, and are yellow, with the interior of the 

 petals longitudinally marked with reddish lines. They are from three to four 

 inches in diameter, and are succeeded by fruit about three inches long, and 

 nearly an inch in thickness. 



2. M. A. CANDOLLi sAvi, Loudoii. De Candolle's Acute-leaved Magnolia. This 

 variety can readily be distmguished by its ovate, oblong, and acute leaves, and 

 greenish flowers. It is figured in Savi's " Bibliotheca Italica." 



3. ]\I. A. MAXIMA, Loudon. Large Acuminate-leaved Magnolia. The leaves of 

 this variety are much larger than those of the original species. Hence its name. 



Geography and History. The most northerly point at which this species is 

 found is near the falls of Niagara^ in latitude forty-three degrees. It grows 

 along the whole mountainous tract of the Alleghanies to their termination in 

 Georgia : and is common on the Cumberland Mountains, which divide the state 

 of Tennessee. ' ' At the distance of forty or fifty miles from these mountains, ' ' says 

 Michaux, " either eastward or westward, the Cucumber-tree is met with only 

 accidentally upon the steep banks of rivers. It is also rare in the parts of Ken- 

 tucky and west Tennessee, which are most remote from the mountains, where 

 the face of the country is less even." 



The Magnolia acuminata was first discovered by John Bartram in 1736. and 

 was sent by him to that venerable English amateur, Peter Collinson. Being 

 readily propagated by layers, and very hardy, it was soon extensively cultivated 

 in the gardens of Europe, and there are now numerous trees in Britain, France, 

 and the north of Italy, from forty to sixty feet in height, which flower freely 

 every year. 



A tree of this species more than eighty feet in height, and three feet in diam- 

 eter, is at present growing in the Bartram botanic garden, at Kingsessing, on 

 the west bank of the Schuylkill, three miles below Philadelphia. It was brought 

 by John Bartraln from Lake Erie, in about 1753 ; and Col. Robert Carr, the 

 present proprietor of this garden informs us. that a great part of the seeds of the 

 Magnolia acuminata sent yearly from America to Europe, are supplied from this 

 tree. 



^oil and Situation. T'he situations peculiarly adapted to the growth of this 

 tree in its native country, are the declivities of mountains, narrow valleys, and 

 the banks of torrents, where the air is constantly moist, and the soil is deep and 



