CHAP, IIL. MAGNOLIA CE. MAGNO‘LI4A. 283 
sale as a flowering shrub, but as a stock for grafting other species on, even 
of the tree kinds: such as M. consp{cua, cordata, and others. . In the north 
of France, and in Germany, it is generally treated as a green-house plant. 
Soil and Situation. This species is generally considered as requiring a mix- 
ture of heath soil, or sandy peat, with loam; but in many gardens about 
London it succeeds perfectly both in sand and clay; the latter soil being 
rendered free by sand, leaf mould, or manure, and drainage. The situation, 
when the plant is treated as a bush, ought to be open, in order that the wood 
may be ripened ; and the plant should be detached, it order that it may be 
covered with foliage and blossoms on every side. North of London, in most 
situations, it requires a wall, and few plants are more deserving of one. 
Against a wall, it will reach the height of 15 ft. or 20 ft. 
Propagation and Culture. In the London nurseries, it is generally propa- 
gated by layers; but it will also strike by cuttings, both of the ripened and 
the herbaceous wood. The stools are generally formed in pits; or, if in 
the open ground, they are generally covered with mats during winter. Seeds 
have been ripened both in England and France; and from these plants have 
been raised in some few nurseries. The plants, whether raised from layers, 
cuttings, or seed, should always be kept in pots till wanted for final planting. 
Statistics. There are fine plants of this species, trained against walls, at 
Harringay, Wormleybury, White Knights, and numerous other places. 
The largest bushes in the neighbourhood of London are in the Mile End 
Nursery ; and there are very handsome specimens in the Hammersmith Nur- 
sery. There is one 20 ft. high in the garden of the Rev. J. Mitford, at Benwell 
in Suffolk, which, we believe, is the largest in England. Price, in London, 
from 1s. 6d. to 2s. 6d. a plant; at Bollwyller, 5 francs ; in New York, ?. . 
211. M.(? Pp.) Gra’citis. The slender-growing purple-flowered Magnolia. 
Synonymes. Magndi’a Kobus Kempf., Dec.,and Don.; M. glatica var. a Thun. Fl. Jap.; M. to- 
mentdsa Thun. in Linn. Soc.; Sidi Kobusi, Japanese; Magnolier gréle, F’r.; filziger Bieber- 
baum, Ge7, 
Derivations. Kobus, or Sidi Kobusi, is the name of the plant in Japan, It is named gracilis from its 
slender habit of growth ; and tomentdsa from the comparatively downy surface of the leaves, It 
was called M. glaica by Thunberg, because he originally supposed it to be a variety of the M. glatca 
of North America. The French and German names signify the same as the specific one. 
Engravings. Kempf. Ic., t. 42.; Par. Lor., 87.; E. of Pl., 7909. 
Description. 1n its native country it is a small tree with rough bark; but 
in England it is a somewhat delicate shrub, with slender stems and branches, 
growing rather more erect and fastigiate than M. purpurea. The leaves are of 
the same form, but a little longer, and always of a decidedly paler green. 
The young leaves are pubescent underneath, as are the young shoots. In 
England, though this kind cannot be considered as a tree, yet it has a 
different habit of growth from M. purpurea; and, instead of, like it, forming 
a broad spreading bush, it is a narrow, upright, slender, fastigiate-growing 
one. The bark has the same odour as that of M. purpurea. The two main 
points of difference between it and M. purpurea are, the paler green, and 
somewhat narrower shape, of the leaves; and the longer and more slender 
form of the flower, the points of the petals of which are slightly turned 
back ; while the flower of M. purpurea is more cup-shaped, and the petals at 
the points are rather turned inwards. The petals of M. gracilis are exteriorly 
of an entirely dark purple, whereas those of M. purpurea melt off into white 
at their upper extremities. 
Geography, History, $c. It is a native of Japan, where it is said by 
Keempfer to attain the size of a cherry tree. It was brought to England in 
1804, but is not very common, probably from its being very generally con- 
founded with M. purptrea. Its management, in all respects, is the same as 
that of the species, except that it is, perhaps, somewhat more tender, 
The largest plant that we know of is in the conservatory at White Knights, 
where it forms a narrow bush about 10 ft. high. It is kept in the conser- 
vatory there, not on account of its tenderness, but because it was considered 
to be a conservatory plant when it was first planted; and it is now much too 
