Magnolia auriculata^ 

 THE EAR-LEAVED MAGNOLIA. 



Synonymes. 



' 



^ WiLLDEiNow, Linnsei Species Plantarum. 



I De Candolle, Prodromus. 



-{ 3I1CHAUX, North American Sylva. 



I Don, Miller's Dictionary. 



[ Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum. 



Torre Y and Gray, Flora of North America. 



France. 



Germany. 



United States. 



Magnolia auriculata, 



Magnolia fraseri, 

 ;\Iagnolier a feuilles auriculees, 

 Geohrter Bieberbaum, 

 Long-leaved Cucumber-tree, Indian 

 Physic, Wahoo, 



Verivalions. The specific name, auriculata, is derived from the Latin auris, the ear, from the rounded lobes of the leave?, 

 resemblins ears. The French naine is a translation of the botanic one. The German name signifies Eared Beaver-tree. It ia 

 called Long-leaved Cucumber-tree from the length of its leaves, and the form oi its fruit; and Indian Physic, because it was 

 much used by tlie aborigine? as medicine. 



Engravings. Michaux, North American Sylva, pi. 56 ; Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum, v., pi. 10 ; and the figures below. 



Specific Characters. Deciduous. Leaves smooth, under surface somewhat glaucous, spathulately obovale, 

 cordate at the base, with blunt approximate auricles. Sepals 3, spreading. Petals 9, oblong. Don. 

 Miller's Diet. 



Description. 



HE Magnolia auriculata is 

 remarkable for the beauty 



of its foliage, the size of 



its flowers, and the fra- 

 grance of their odour. It attains a height of 

 thirty or forty feet, with a straight trunk, twelve 

 or fifteen inches in diameter, often undivided for 

 half of its length. The branches spread widely, 

 and ramify but sparingly, with their extremities 

 turned upwards, which circumstances give the 

 tree a peculiar air, so that it may readily be 

 known at a distance, even in winter. The bark 

 is gray, and always smooth, even on the oldest 

 trees, except on the young shoots, which are of a 

 purplish-red, dotted with white. When the epi- 

 dermis is removed, the cellular integument, by 

 contact with the air, instantly changes from white 

 to yellow. The leaves arc of a light-green colour, of a fine texture, eight or nine 

 inches long, and from four to six inches broad. On young and vigorous trees, 

 they are often one third, or even one half larger. They are smooth on both sur- 

 faces, acuminate at the summit, widest near the top, and narrowest towards the 

 bottom. The base is divided into rounded lobes, one on each side of the inser- 

 tion of the petiole. They have short footstalks, sitting near each other, and 

 radiate in regular order, with their margins touching or slightly overlapping 

 each other, like an umbrella. The flowers, which open in April and May, are 

 three or four inches in diameter, of a milky white, and are situated at the extre- 

 mities of the young shoots. The fruit is oval, three or four inches long, and, like 

 the Maafnola umbrella, of a beautiful rose-colour, when ripe. It differs from 



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