NAT. ORDER. 



MagnoliacecB. 



MAGNOLIA YULANS. - UMBRELLA TREE. 



Class XIII. PoLYANDRiA. Older VI. Polygynia. 



Gen. Char. Calyx, three-leaved. Petals, six or more. Cap- 

 sules, two-valved, one seeded, imbricated in a cone. Seed, 

 berried, pendulous. 

 Spe. Char. Sepals, three to six, deciduous. Stamens, indefinite. 



" This is a small tree, sometimes, though rarely reaching an 

 elevation of thirty feet, and almost alw^ays having an inclined 

 trunk ; the leaves are scattered, petiolate, oval, obtuse, entire, glab- 

 rous, thick, opaque, yellowish-green on their upper surface, and 

 of a beautiful pale glaucous color beneath ; the jlowers are large, 

 terminal, solitary, cream-colored, strongly and gratefully odorous, 

 often scenting the air to a considerable distance ; the calyx is 

 composed of three leaves ; the petals are from eight to fourteen 

 in number, obovate, obtuse, concave, and contracted at the base ; 

 the stamens are very numerous, and inserted on a conical recep- 

 tacle ; the germs are collected into a cone, each being surmounted 

 by a linear, recurved style ; the fruit is conical, about one inch in 

 leno^th, consisting of numerous imbricated cells, each containing a 

 single scarlet seed. This escapes through a longitudinal opening 

 in the cell, but remains for some time suspended from the cone 

 by a slender thread, to which it is attached." 



"The Magnolia Yula7is extends along the sea-board of the 

 United States, from Cape Ann in Massachusetts, to the shores of 

 the gulf of Mexico. It is abundant in the Middle and Southern 

 Vol. a.— 112 



