DENDROLOGY. 207 



Being a rare tree, it is only accidentally employed in the arts. 

 Sawn into boards, it serves in joinery for the interior of wooden 

 houses, and, for its size and lightness, it is selected for large 

 canoes. Most of the inhabitants of the country bordering on the 

 Alleghanies gather the cones of this tree about midsummer, when 

 they are half ripe, and steep them in whiskey : a glass or two of 

 this liquor, which is extremely bitter, they habitually take in the 

 morning, as a preservative against autumnal fevers. 



Long-Leaved Cucumber Tree. Magnolia auriculata. 



This species of Magnolia is remarkable for the beauty of its 

 foliage and for the size of its flowers and the fragrance of their 

 odor. It appears to be particularly confined to that tract of the 

 Alleghanies which traverse the Southern States, at the distance 

 of nearly 300 miles from the sea. It is however sometimes 

 found on the steep banks of the rivers which rise in these lofty 

 mountains, and which on one side roll their waters to the sea, 

 and on the other flow to meet the Ohio, after traversing 

 Kentucky and Tennessee. It is profusely multiplied on the 

 steepest part of the Great Father Mountains, Black and Iron 

 Mountains of North Carolina. It is designated by the names of 

 Long-Leaved Cucumber Tree, and of Indian Physic. The soil 

 of these mountains, which is brown, deep and of an excellent 

 quality, is peculiarly favorable to its growth, and it multiplies 

 spontaneously with the greatest facility. 



This tree grows to the height of 40 or 45 feet, with a diameter 

 of 12 or 15 inches. Its trunk is straight and well shaped, and 

 often undivided for half of its length ; its limbs, widely spread 

 and sparingly ramified, give to this tree, when stript of its leaves, 

 so peculiar an air, that it is readily distinguished. The leaves 

 are of a light-green color, 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 longer. They 

 are smooth on both surfaces, acuminate at the summit, widest 

 near the top and narrowest towards the bottom. The base is 



