130 THE MAGNOLIA. 



THE MAGNOLIA. 



THE Magnolia, though, excepting one species, a stranger 

 to New England soil, demands some notice. Any one 

 who has never seen the trees of this genus in their na- 

 tive soil can form no correct idea of them. I would not 

 say, however, that they would fall short of his concep- 

 tions of their splendor. When I first beheld one of the 

 large magnolias, though it answered to my previous ideas 

 of its magnificence, I thought it a less beautiful tree than 

 the Southern cypress, and less picturesque than the live- 

 oak, the black-walnut, and some other trees I saw there. 

 The foliage of the Magnolia is very large and heavy, and 

 so dark as to look gloomy. It is altogether too sombre a 

 tree in the open landscape, and must add to the gloom of 

 any wood which it occupies, without yielding to it any 

 other striking character. 



There are several species of Magnolia cultivated in 

 pleasure-grounds, the selection being made from those 

 bearing a profusion of flowers. The only one that grows 

 wild in New England is of small stature, sometimes 

 called the Beaver-tree. It inhabits a swamp near Glou- 

 cester, about twenty miles from Boston. This place is its 

 northern boundary. The flowers are of a dull white, 

 without any beauty, but possessed of a very agreeable 

 fragrance, causing them to be in great demand. The 

 Magnolia wood is annually stripped both of flowers and 

 branches, and the trees will probably be extirpated before 

 many years by this sort of vandalism. 



