Gordon in pnbcsceiis, 

 THE PUBESCENT-LEAVED GORDONIA. 



Si/tioJir/mis. 



Gordonia Puhesceiis, 



Behaarte Gordonie, 

 Frankliiiia, 



( De Ca.ndoi.le, Protlromus. 

 I MiciiAix, North Anieiican Sylva. 

 -/ PuRSH, Flora America; Seplentrionalis. 

 I Loudon, Arboretmu Britannitum. 

 I^ToRREY AND Gray, Flora olNorih America. 



Germany. 



Britain, France, and Anolo-America. 



Derivations. The word pubescens ia derived from the Latin pu/jcsco, to become downy ; and the German name haa the 

 same sipiificalion. The name Franklinia is so called in honour of Dr. Franklin. 



Erigrarhiea. IMichanx, North American Sylva, pi. 59 ; Audubon, Birds of America, pi. clxxxv. ; Lfjudon, Arboretum Bri- 

 tannicum, fi^'ure 94 ; and the figures below. 



Specific Characters. Flowers almost sessile. Leaves obovate-lanceolate, pubescent beneath, somewhat 

 serrated, membranaceous. Petals and sepals rather silky on the outside. Dun, Miller's Diet. 



DescrijHion. 



Sf^r^lHE Franklinia is a decidu- ?n 



ous tree, much smaller than 

 the preceding species, and 





e^:^t^3 rarely exceeds thirty feet 

 in height, and six or eight inches in diameter. The 

 bark of the trunk is smooth, and presents a ridged 

 surface, somewhat like that of the Carpinus ameri- 

 cana. The leaves are alternate, oblong, narrowed 

 at the base, finely and sharply toothed, shining above, 

 canescent beneath, and rather thin. The flowers are 

 white, with yellow anthers, and are nearly three inches 

 in diameter. They are of an agreeable odour, and 

 appear in Carolina about the beginning of July, and 

 a month later near Philadelphia. They open in suc- 

 cession during two or three months, and mature 

 -hen the tree is only three or four feet high. In the 

 neighbourhood of London, it seldom comes into flower 

 oefore September ; and so continues until the flower- 

 buds are destroyed by frost. The fruit consists q^ 



round, ligneous capsules, which, when ripe, open at the summit in four seams, 

 to release the small seeds. 



Geography and History. The Gordonia pubescens is found only on the banks 

 of the river Altamaha, in Georgia, where it was discovered, in 1770, by John 

 Bartram, who gave it the name of Franklinia. It was introduced into England, 

 in 1774, by Mr. William Malcolm. There are plants ten feet high in the Mile 

 End nursery, London, and of a larger size at Purser's Cross, and at Syon. It 

 is also cultivated in the Jardin Imperial des Plantes, in France ; and a few years 

 ago there was a tree of a considerable size in the garden at Trianon. The largest 

 tree of this species which we have on record, is in the Bartram botanic garden, 

 at Kingsessing, near Philadelphia. It is fifty-two feet in height, with a trunk 

 three feet and nine inches in circumference. There is also another vigorous tree 

 fifteen feet high, in the garden of Mr. D. Landreih, of Philadelphia. 



