CHAP. III. 



MAGNOLIA CEJE. MAGNO \.IA. 



279 



— This is another variety similarly originated, and scarcely, if at all, 

 distinguishable from the last. 

 ¥ M. c. 5 citriodora Hort. The Lemon-scented compicuotis-^oweved 

 Magnolia. — This variety was raised by M. Parmentier of Enghien, 

 but is little known ; and, we believe, wholly without merit as a new 

 variety. There are plants of it in the Exotic Nursery, King's Road, 

 Chelsea, which Mr. Knight considers as differing very little from 

 M. consplcua. 

 Other Varieties of M. conspicua. This species, as will hereafter appear, 

 has ripened seeds in various places ; and, as it fertilises readily with M. 

 purpurea and M. gracilis, many new varieties may be expected when the 

 attention of cultivators is more especially directed to the subject. M. c. 

 Norbertix is a seedling variety, of which there is a plant in the garden of the 

 Horticultural Society, which has not yet flowered. The plants raised from 

 seed of M. c. Soulange«H« at Fromont may be productive of something 

 new, as may those raised by Mr. Curtis at Glazenwood, and by Mr. Ward 

 at White Knights. If Signor Manetti succeeds in raising plants from the 

 seeds of M. c. Soulange««ff, which have ripened at Monza, he also may in- 

 troduce some new varieties. 



Desaiption. This is a very showy tree, distinguishable from all the other 

 magnolias of both sections, by its flowers being of a milk white, and expanding 



34 



[Scale, \\ in. to 1 ft.] 



before any of the leaves. The tree assumes a regular conical shape, with a 

 grey bark and numerous branches and twigs, which generally have a vertical, 

 rather than a horizontal, direction ; so that a large tree of this species would 

 probably be more festigiate than any of the others. The young shoots are from 

 1 ft. to 18 in. in length, and the tree, in ten years, will attain the height of from 

 10 ft. to 15 ft., flowering the second or third year after grafting. The size of 

 the full-grown tree, in its native country, is said to be from 40 ft. to 50 ft. ; the 

 highest which we know of in England is at Eastwell Park, in Kent, which, in 

 1825, appeared to be upwards of 30 ft. 



Geography and History. This tree is said to be a native of the southern 

 provinces of China ; and to be extensively cultivated there in the gardens of 

 the emperor, and in those of all eminent persons who can afford to procure 

 it. It began to be cultivated in China in the year G27 ; and from that time it 

 has always held the very first rank, as an ornamental tree, in their gardens. It 

 is not only planted in the open ground, and allowed to attain its full size, but 

 dwarfs are kept in pots and boxes, and forced throughout the winter, so as to 

 keep up a perpetual supply of bloom in the apartments of the imperial palace. 

 So highly is this tree valued, that a plant in flower, presented to the emperor, 

 is thought a handsome present, even from the governor of a province. In very 

 severe winters, the trunks of the trees in the open air are sometimes wrapped 

 round with straw ropes ; but it never requires any other protection, even in the 



