CHAP. III. MAGNOLIA CEZ. MAGNOLIA. 273 
4 5. M. acumina‘ra L. The pointed-/eaved Magnolia. 
Identification. Lin. Sp., 756. ; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 80.; Willd. Baum., p.230. ; Hayne Dend., p. 117. 3 
Don’s Mill., 1. p. 83. 
Synonymes. M. ristica, and M. pennsylvanica, of some ; the blue Magnolia, Eng. ; the Cucumber Tree, 
U. S.; Magnolier acuminé, Magnolier a Feuilles pointées, Fr.; zugespitzer Bieberbaum, Ger. 
Derivations. This species:is called the Cucumber Tree, in America, from its fruit resembling a small 
cucumber. The other names are translations of the botanic one. 
Engravings. Mich. Arb., 3. p. 82. t. 3. ; Sims, Bot. Mag., 2427.; Hayne, t. 17.; E. of Pl, 7915. ; and 
our plate in Vol. II. 
Spec. Char. Deciduous. Leaves oval, acuminate, under-surface pubescent’ 
Flowers 6—9-petaled. (Don’s Mill., p. 83.) A deciduous tree. North 
America. Flowers yellowish. May to July. 1736. Height from 30 ft. 
to 40 ft. 
Varieties. 
* M. a. 2 Candélli Savi. De Candolle’s acuminate-leaved Magnolia.— Leaves 
- oyate, oblong, acute. Flowers greenish. Figured in Savi’s Bibi. Ital., 
p. 224. ; 
% M. a. 3 méwima Lodd.—Leaves much larger than those of the original 
species. Introduced by Messrs. Loddiges, and cultivated in different 
nurseries. 
Other Varieties. The Magnolia acuminata being frequently raised from 
seed, and the seedlings varying much in the size of their leaves, and in the 
presence or absence of pubescence, both on the leaves and wood, it would 
be easy to select several varieties apparently as distinct as those above 
mentioned. In the Goldworth Nursery, Woking, Surrey, are some which 
appear remarkably distinct. . 
Description. A deciduous tree, in its native country, from 60 ft. to 80 ft 
in height, with a straight trunk, from 3ft. to 4ft. in diameter; numerous 
branches, and regularly distributed shoots. The leaves are from 6 in. to 7 in. 
long, and from 3in. to 4in. broad, upon old trees, but double that size upon 
young vigorous-growing plants. Michaux describes them as oval, entire, and 
very acuminate; but, in the seedlings raised in British nurseries, they are 
found sometimes ovate, nearly orbiculate, and cordate-acuminate. The flowers, 
which are 5in. or Gin. in diameter, are bluish, and sometimes white, with a 
tint of yellow. They have but a feeble odour ; though, as they are large and 
numerous, they have a fine effect in the midst of the superb foliage. Plants 
raised from seeds do not usually produce flowers till they are eight or ten years 
old, when the tree will probably be from 15 ft. to 20 ft. in height; but 
plants raised from layers produce flowers in two or three years. The fruit 
is about 3in. long, and nearly lin. in diameter. It is nearly cylindrical, 
and often a little larger at the summit than at the base: it is convex on 
one side, and concave on the other; and, when green, it nearly resembles a 
young cucumber. The fruit is rose-coloured; and, as in the case of the other 
species, the seeds, before they drop, remain suspended for some time by long 
white threads. The wood of this tree is of a fine grain, and of an orange colour. 
Geography. The most northerly point at which this tree is found is 
Niagara, near the Falls, in lat. 43°. It abounds along the whole mountainous 
tract of the Alleghanies, to their termination in Georgia, over a distance of 
900 miles. It is also common on the Cumberland Mountains, which divide 
the state of Tennessee. The situations peculiarly adapted to its growth, ac- 
cording to Michaux, are the declivities of mountains, narrow valleys, and the 
banks of torrents, where the atmosphere is constantly moist, and where the 
soil is deep and fertile. ‘ At the distance of 40 or 50 miles from these 
mountains, either eastward or westward, the cucumber tree is met with only 
accidentally upon the steep banks of rivers, where the atmosphere is con- 
stantly refreshed by the evaporation from their surface. We may conclude 
that this tree is a stranger to all the regions north of the river Hudson, and 
to all the Atlantic parts of the United States, to the distance of 100, 150, 
and 200 miles from the sea; the nature of the soil, and the extreme heat of 
the climate in summer, being utterly uncongenial to its growth. It is also 
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