CHAP. III. uagnolia\'E^. MAGNO'L/^. 283 



sale as a flowering shrub, but as a stock for grafting other species on, even 

 of the tree kinds : such as M. conspicua, cordata, and others. In the north 

 of France, and in Germany, it is generally treated as a green-house plant. 



Soil and Situation. This species is generally considered as requiring a mix- 

 ture of heath soil, or sandy peat, with loam ; but in many gardens about 

 Lontlon it succeeds perfectly both in sand and clay ; the latter soil being 

 rendered free by sand, leaf mould, or manure, and drainage. The situation, 

 when the plant is treated as a bush, ought to be open, in order that the wood 

 may be ripened ; and the plant should be detached, it order that it may be 

 covered with foliage and blossoms on every side. North of London, in most 

 situations, it requires a wall, and few plants are more deserving of one. 

 Against a wall, it will reach the height of 15 ft. or 20 ft. 



Propagation and Culture. In the London nurseries, it is generally propa- 

 gated by layers ; but it will also strike by cuttings, both of the ripened and 

 the herbaceous wood. The stools are generally formed in pits ; or, if in 

 the open ground, they are generally covered with mats iluring winter. Seeds 

 have been ripened both in England and France; and from these plants have 

 been raised in some few nurseries. The plants, whether raised from layers, 

 cuttings, or seed, should always be kept in pots till wanted for final planting. 



Statistics. There are fine plants of this species, trained against walls, at 

 Harringay, Worndeybury, White Knights, and numerous other places. 

 The largest bushes in the neighbourhood of London are in the Mile End 

 Nursery ; and there are very handsome specimens in the Hammersmith Nur- 

 sery. There is one 20 ft. high in the garden of the Rev. J. Mitford, at Benwell 

 in Suffolk, which, we believe, is the largest in England. Price, in London, 

 from l.v. Gd. to 2s. 6d. a plant ; at Bollwyller, 5 francs ; in New York, ?. 



* II. M. (? p.) gra'cilis. The slendev-groiuittg purple-^oivcred Magnolia. 



Synoni/mcs. Magnbl/Vi Kobus Ka?mpf., Dec, and Don. ; M. glauca var. a T/ii/n. Ft. Jap. ; M. to- 

 meiitbsa TAwrt. in Linn. Soc. ; Sidi Kobusi, Japanese; Magnolier grl-le, Fr. ; filziger Bieber- 

 bauin, Ger. , . 



Derivalions. Kobus, or Sidi Kobusi, is the name of the plant in Japan. It is named gracibs from its 

 slender habit of growth ; and tomentbsa from the comparatively downy surface of the leaves. It 

 was called M. glai'ica by Thunberg, because he originally supposed it to be a variety of the M. glalica 

 of North America. The French and German names signify the same as the specific one. 



Engravings. Kaimpf. Ic, t. 42. ; Par. Lor., 87. ; E. of PI., 7909. 



Description. In its native country it is a small tree with rough bark; but 

 in England it is a somewhat delicate shrub, with slender stems and branches, 

 growing rather more erect and fastigiate than M. purpurea. The leaves are of 

 the same form, but a little longer, and always of a decidedly paler green. 

 The young leaves are pubescent underneath, as are the young shoots. In 

 England, though this kind cannot be considered as a tree, yet it has a 

 different habit of growth from M. purpurea; and, instead of, like it, forming 

 a broad spreading bush, it is a narrow, upright, slender, fastigiate-growing 

 one. The bark has the same odour as that of M. purpiu'ea. The two main 

 points of difference between it and M. purpurea are, the paler green, and 

 somewhat narrower shape, of the leaves ; and the longer and more slender 

 form of the flower, the points of the petals of which are slightly turned 

 back ; while the flower of M. piu-piu-ea is more cup-shaped, and the petals at 

 the points are rather tinned inwards. The petals of M. gracilis are exteriorly 

 of an entirely dark purple, whereas those of M. purpurea melt off into white 

 at their upper extremities. 



Geograplu/, History, S(c. It is a native of Japan, where it is said by 

 Kiempfer to attain the size of a cherry tree. It was brought to England in 

 1 804, but is not very common, probably from its being very generally con- 

 foundeii with M. puri)urea. Its management, in all respects, is the same as 

 that of the species, except that it is, ])erhaps, somewhat more tender. 

 The largest i)lant that we know of is in the conservatory ut White Knights, 

 where it Ibnns a narrow bush about 10 ft. high. It is kept in the conser- 

 vatory there, not on account of its tenderness, but because it was considered 

 to be a conservatory plant when it was first planted ; and it is now much too 



