U SILVA OF NORTH AMERICA. magnoliace.e. 



brown and has, Avlien perfectly dry, a specific gra^^ty of 0.4487, a cubic foot of the dry wood weigli- 

 ing 27.96 pounds. The rather heavier sapwood, consisting- of thirty-five to forty layers of annual 

 growth, is creamy white. 



Magnolia tripetala was first described by Catesby in his Natural History of Carolina, published 

 in 1743,^ and was introduced into the gardens of Europe as early as 1752.^ The arrangement of the 

 leaves at the end of the brancheSj resembfing somewhat that o£ the ribs of an umbrelhij led the early 

 settlers in Virginia and Carolina to call tliis Magnolia the Parasol-treCj or Umbrella-tree ; ^ and the 

 specific name, Umhrdla, was given to it by Lamarck, who discarded the older Linnjean name referring 

 to the three conspicuous rellexed petaloid sepals. Such a changej in spite of the technical inaccuracy 

 o£ the name, is contrary to the modern ideas of botanical nomenclature, however, and the Linnjean 

 tripetala is now generally adopted. The hardiness of the Umbrella-tree, its ample foliage, large flowers, 

 and brilliant and conspicuous fruit, have made it a favorite in gardens and parks, in spite of its small 

 size and sprawling habit ; and it is one of the most commonly cultivated of the American Magnohas in 

 the northern United States, and in northern and central Europe. It is often used in American nurse- 

 ries as stock upon which to propagate the less vigorous species. It grows in culti\ation with rapidity 

 and vigor, and is hardy as far north as New England. 



1 Magnolia ampUssimo Jiore albo,fruclu cocdneo, ii. SO, t. 80. Magnolia foliis ovato-ohhngis, ad basin et apicem angustis, utrinque 



Magnolia Jlore mazimo albo fcetido, foliis dedduis ampHs,fiorem ad virentibus, PL EJtrh. 30, t. 62, 03. 

 ramulorum seriem sph(cnce dngentihus, fruciu majori, Clayton, Fl. ^ iiiton, liort. Kew. ii. 252. — Loudon, Arb. Brit. i. 2G9. 



Virgin. CI. a CatesLy, l. c. 



EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. 



Plate IX. Magnolia tkipetala. 



A flowering branch, natural size. 



J- 



Plate X. Magnolia tripetala. 



1. A fruit, natural size. 



2. A floiver, the calyx and corolla removed, natural size. 



3. A stamen, posterior -view, enlarged. 



4. A stamen, anterior view, enlarged. 



5. Vertical section of the gjmcEeium, enlarged. 

 0. A carpel laid open, enlarged. 



7. Vertical section of a seed, enlarged. 



8. Cross section of a seed, enlarged. 



9. A seed, the fleshy part of the testa removed, showing the grooved stony portion, enlarged. 



10. An embryo, much enlarged, 



11. A \ymter-bud^ the outer scale removed^ natural size. 



