TREES OF AMERICA. 87 



country; these seven are very much alike, 

 except in size, and in the shape of the leaves ; 

 and are all equally useless, except to increase 

 the beauty of gardens and plantations : a de- 

 scription of one, therefore, with very slight 

 notices of the rest, will serve for the whole. 

 The names of the seven kinds are, the large 

 magnolia or big laurel, the small magnolia or 

 white bay, the cucumber-tree, the heart-leaved 

 cucumber-tree, the umbrella-tree, the long- 

 leaved cucumber-tree, and the large-leaved 

 umbrella-tree." 



" I suppose they do not grow anywhere 

 about here. Uncle Philip ; I never heard 

 any of these names before, except the magno- 

 lia." 



" The white bay and the umbrella-tree are 

 found in New- York and New- Jersey, but they 

 are not very common ; the others are seldom 

 found north of Virginia, and they all seem to 

 prefer the mild climate of Georgia, and the 

 Carolinas : in Florida, too, they are most 

 g-bundant, and grow to the largest size." 



" I have read a story of an Indian chief, 

 Uncle Philip, who saved the life of a British 

 officer, and afterward sent him home to his 

 father ; and in that story there was something 



