CHAPTER VIII. 

 Enumeration of the different species of Forest Trees. 



IN the following list the trees are arranged in the order in which they are 

 supposed to stand in natural alliance with each other ; but being a selec- 

 tion from the whole vegetable kingdom as regards one property, only that 

 of producing timber in the climate of Great Britain, there will be found 

 therefore great breaches in the natural connexion between many of the 

 individuals comprising a list so formed ; and on this account, and the want 

 of space, as well as that the Linnean botanical descriptions are equally 

 efficient in distinguishing one family of plants from every other, and dif- 

 ferent species of plants from each other, the Linnean descriptions only are 

 given. 



MAGNOLIACE^:. 

 Polyandria Poly. Linn. 



Eng. Name. 

 CUCUMBER-TREE 01 MAGNOLIA. 



Bot. Name. 



MAGNOLIA. 



GENERIC CHARACTER Calyx, three-leaved; 

 petals, nine ; capsule, two-valved, imbri- 

 cated seed, berry, pendulous. 



Time of sowing seed as soon as it can 

 be procured from abroad. Sow in 

 pots filled with a mixture of loam 

 and peat, and plunge them into an 

 old hot-bed of tanner's bark. They 

 may also be propagated by layers. 



Uses Veneering, the purposes of the 

 turner, and those of timber in general 

 for in-door works. 



Species for Ornament, Shelter, or Underwood. 



MAGNOLIA. CUCUMBER-TREE. Native of Ft. 



Umbrella-leaved . tripttala . . . N. Amer. . . 30 



Bluish flowered, .acuminata. . 25 



Heart-leaved ... .cordata. ... 



Great flowered. . .grandiflora. ^ 60-70 



Long-leaved cu-j 2( 



cumber-tree. . j 



Large-leaved. . . .macrophylla 30 



Magnolia grandiflora. Big laurel and 

 largemagnolia of America, andlaurier 

 tulipier of the French, is first seen in 

 North Carolina, near the river Nuse, 

 in the latitude of 35 31'; and pro- 

 ceeding from this point, it is found in 

 the maritime parts of the southern 

 States and of the Floridas, and as far 

 up the Mississippi as Natcher, 300 

 miles above New Orleans, which em- 

 braces an extent of 20 00 miles. Accord- 

 ing to Michaux, the magnolia grandi- 

 flora claims a place among the largest 

 trees of the United States, as it some- 

 times reaches ninety feet in height and 

 two or three in diameter, but its ordi- 



nary stature is from sixty to seventy 

 feet. Its trunk is described as being 

 commonly straight, and its summit 

 nearly in the shape of a regular py- 

 ramid. The same author observes, 

 that they who have seen this tree in 

 its native soil, blooming with its large 

 white fragrant flowers disposed amidst 

 the rich foliage of the tree, agree in 

 considering it one of the most beauti- 

 ful productions of the vegetable king- 

 dom. In Carolina it blossoms in May, 

 and the seeds are ripe about the be- 

 ginning of October. The wood is 

 soft, and remarkable for its whiteness, 

 which it preserves even after being 

 seasoned ; it is said to be easily 

 wrought, and not subject to warp, but 

 that it is not durable when exposed to 

 the weather ; for this reason the boards 

 of the magndlia grandiflora are used 

 only in joinery in the interior of build- 

 ings. In its native climate it grows 

 only in cool shady places, where the 

 soil is composed of brown mould, and 

 is loose, deep, and fertile. The seeds 

 preserve their vegetative powers seve- 

 ral months out of the ground. A 

 single tree sometimes yields four hun- 

 dred cones, each of which contains 

 from 40 to 50 seeds. The most north- 

 ern point which this tree passes the 

 winter in the open air, is about Nantes, 

 in lat. 47 13', but it begins to bear 

 ripe fruit about Grenoble, in lat. 45. 

 In a garden near Philadelphia, Mi- 

 chseux saw a tree of this species, which 

 bore uninjured the rigorous climate of 

 this part of Pennsylvania, which is 

 much more severe than that of Paris 

 or London. In England the magnulia 

 grandiftora is more injured by being 



