CONSPICUOUS-FLOWERED MAGNOLIA. 21 



In the same garden there is a Magnolia conspicna soulangeana ten years planted, 

 twenty feet in height, with a head fourteen fe'et in diameter, which, in May, 

 1844, produced eight hundred flowers. Both of these trees ripened their seeds 

 early in October of the same year. 



Soil and Situation. A rich, sandy loam seems to suit this species best ; but it 

 will grow in any deep, free soil, properly drained, and moderately enriched. 



The situation, when it is to be treated as a standard, ought to be sufficiently 

 open to admit of ripening the wood in autumn, and yet not so warm as to urge 

 forward the flower-buds prematurely in spring, as they arc very liable to be 

 injured by frost, from which they should be protected by some kind of covering. 

 The tree shows itself in its greatest beauty against a wall, where it can be pro- 

 tected more conveniently by a projecting coping, or otherwise. In warm situa- 

 tions, sloping to the south or south-east, it has the finest effect planted in front 

 of a bank of evergreens ; and, indeed, wherever it is planted, evergreens should 

 be growing near it, so as to form a back ground, on account of the flowers 

 expanding before the unfolding of the leaves. 



Propagation and Qulture. The Magnolia conspicua and all its varieties arc 

 propagated by layers, or by inarching on the Magnolia purpurea, or acuminata. 

 When grafted on the former, the tree is comparatively small, by which it is ren- 

 dered very convenient for use as a shrub, or for growing in pots ; but when it 

 is intended to form a tree, it should either be grafted on the Magnolia acumi- 

 nata, or raised from layers or seeds. It generally requires two years before the 

 plant can be separated from the parent stock. The young shoots are from twelve 

 to eighteen inches in length, and the tree, in ten years, will attain a height of 

 ten or fifteen feet, flowering the second or third year after grafting. 



Properties and Uses. Besides the value of the Magnolia conspicua as an 

 ornamental plant or tree, the Chinese pickle the flower-buds, after having 

 removed their calyxes, and use them for flavouring rice. Medicinally, the seeds 

 are taken in powder, in colds, and inflammations of the chest. It is also regarded 

 as stomachic ; and water, in which it has been steeped, is used for bathing the 

 eyes when inflamed, and for clearing them of gum. 



