678 



MAGNOLIA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



MAGNOLIA. 



M. Thurberi. It is hardy in the south of 

 England, having been grown outside for 

 several years at Kew. The leaves are 

 6 or 7 in. long by about half as much in 

 width, the flowers 4 to 5 in. in diameter, 

 creamy-white. Professor Sargent, who 

 found the species growing in the forests 

 of Hokkaido, in Japan, describes it as a 

 tree 70 to 80 ft. high, with a tall straight 

 trunk 2 ft in diameter He sa>s the 

 flov\ers appear before the lea\es, about 

 the middle of Ma\. 



the South of England, and bears freely 

 its purple, sweet-scented flowers, though 

 not in the same profusion as are those of 

 the white-flowered M. conspicua. This 

 species has a number of synonyms, 

 amongst which the following are the most 

 frequently met with in books and nursery 

 catalogues : M. discolor, M. denudata, M. 

 liliflora, M. purpurea, Talauma Sieboldi, 

 &c Theie are se\eral \aiieties, l)ut these 

 differ so sh^ditlv from e-irh other and 

 fiom thi I |)i ' -, \\ithout 



M. macrophylla. — This, unfortunately 

 somewhat tender in a young state, is worth 

 growing simply for its beautiful leaves, 

 which are green above and clothed with 

 white hairs beneath, and attain a length 

 of upwards of 3 ft. The open bell-shaped 

 fragrant flowers are white with a purple 

 blotch at the base of the inner petals, and 

 measure 8 or 10 in. across. It is a lovely 

 flowering tree on warm soils in the south- 

 ern counties of England, as at Olaremont. 



M. obovata is a native of China ; in 

 Japan it only occurs in cultivation. It is 

 a dwarf-growing bush, perfectly hardy in 



good coloured figures would be next to 

 useless. The best are Borreri, -angusti- 

 folia, and erubescens. 



M. stellata. — An excellent coloured 

 plate of this very beautiful Japanese 

 shrub was published in The Garden in 

 June 1878, under the name of M. Halle- 

 ana. This species is the earliest of the 

 Magnolias to flower, and it should be 

 extensively grown for the beauty of its 

 starry white flowers. A variety with 

 blush-coloured flowers has been sent 

 from Japan by Mr. Maries. Both are 

 dwarf-growing deciduous shrubs. 



