THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



MAGNOLIA. 675 



large yellow flower-heads, but it is rarely 

 found in gardens. 



MADARIA {Mignoneife Vine).—M. 

 elegans is a hardy Californian annual with 

 showy yellow and brown flowers, requiring 

 the treatment of hardy annuals. 



MADIA. — A hardy annual Composite 

 of slight ornamental value. 



MAGNOLIA (Lily Tr^^).— Most beau- 

 tiful of flowering trees and shrubs, there 

 are about twenty species of Magnolia 

 known, and all but some half-dozen or so 

 are in cultivation in this country. The 

 headquarters of these trees are in China 

 and Japan, a few are peculiar to the 

 Himalayan region, and a few more 

 to North America. A glance at the 

 engraving, representing a very fine speci- 

 men of the Yulan, will show what glorious 

 effects may be obtained in spring, in the 

 South of England at any rate, by its use. 

 It is true enough, unfortunately, that frosts 

 sometimes injure the flowers and change 

 their snowy whiteness into an unsightly 

 brown. Perhaps the reason that this 

 Magnolia and its allies are not more 

 often met with in gardens is owing to 

 the fact of their not transplanting readily. 

 The best results are obtained if the plants 

 are planted just as growth begins in spring. 

 The fleshy roots when injured rot rapidly, 

 and when autumn-planting has been 

 practised, many succumb to the ordeal, 

 those that do not do so outright often 

 struggling on in a pitiful plight for years. 

 A little care in transplanting in spring, 

 in sheltering with mats from dry winds 

 or hot sun, and in syringing the wood to 

 prevent shrivelling, until the plants are 

 established, would do much to prove that 

 the Magnolias can be planted with every 

 prospect of success. Some species 

 occasionally ripen seed freely in this 

 country, and it is well worth while to 

 sow this seed at once. If dried and 

 kept like other seeds until the following 

 season, all chance of germination will have 

 passed. All the species of the natural 

 order Magnoliaceas have seeds which 

 retain their vitality for but a very limited 

 period. 



M. acuminata {Cucumber Tree) makes 

 a noble specimen when planted singly 

 in the park or pleasure-ground. It is 

 deciduous, the leaves varying from 5 in. 

 to I ft. in length, and glaucous green, 

 the flowers yellow-tinged, bell-shaped, 

 and slightly fragrant. There are fine 

 examples of this tree at Kew, in the 

 gardens of Syon House, and Claremont. 

 In its native country it attains a height of 

 from 60 to 90 ft., with a trunk from 2 to 

 4 ft. in diameter. The yellow Cucumber 



Tree (M. cordata) is regarded by Professor 

 C. S. Sargent as a variety of M. acuminata. 

 It is a rai-e plant in a wild state, as it 

 does not appear to have been collected 

 since Michaux found it in Georgia. 



M. Campbelli, one of the most gorgeous 

 of Indian forest trees, has not fulfilled the 

 expectations of those who took so much 

 trouble in introducing the species to 

 British gardens. In a wild state it attains 

 a height of 1 50 ft., and the fragrant flowers, 

 varying from deep rose to crimson, come 

 before the leaves. Probably the finest 

 specimen in the British Islands is the 

 one at Lakelands, near Cork, which ten 

 years ago was 35 ft. high. In 1884 it 

 flowered for the first time, and it has also 

 flowered well at Fota in the same district. 



M. conspicua. — In its typical form this 

 has snowy-white flowers, which are borne 

 in the greatest profusion in the latter part 

 of April and beginning of May. Splendid 

 specimens of this beautiful Chinese and 

 Japanese tree are to be seen at Gunners- 

 bury House, Syon House, and Kew. M. 

 Yulan and M. precia are names under 

 which this is found in some books and 

 gardens. Several hybrid forms between 

 this species and M. obovata occur in 

 gardens ; of two of these, M. Lenne and 

 M. Soulangeana nigra, coloured plates 

 have been published in The Garden. M. 

 Soulangeana has flowers similar in shape 

 and size to those of typical M. conspicua, 

 but they are deeply tinged with red ; M. 

 Soulangeana nigra has dark plum-coloured 

 flowers. Both these bloom a week or ten 

 days later than the type. Other seedling 

 forms or slight varieties of the Yulan are 

 M. Alexandrina, M. cyathiformis, M. 

 speciosa, M. spectabilis, M. superba, 

 M. triumphans, and M. Yulan grandis. 



M. Fraseri, a native of the southern 

 United States, is recognised by its green 

 spathulate leaves, measuring about 8 in. to 

 I ft. in length, and about 3 or 4 in. across 

 at the widest pai't, the flowers, 3 or 4 in. in 

 diameter, are creamy-white in colour, and 

 appear later 

 than those of 

 any other cul- 

 tivated spe- 

 cies. In a 

 wild state the 

 tree attains a 

 height of from 

 30 to 50 ft. 



M, glauca, 

 the Laurel 

 Magnolia or 

 Sweet Bay of 

 the eastern 

 UnitedStates, 



Magnolia glauca. 



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