228 SYLVAN SKETCHES. 



and this circumstance has induced some persons to 

 divide them into two species, one deciduous, and one 

 evergreen. 



In America, it is known by the names of White 

 Laurel, Swamp Sassafras, and Beaver tree : it has the 

 last name from that animal being caught by means of 

 the root, which it eats as a great dainty. 



Kalm says that he has seldom found this tree north of 

 Pennsylvania, where it begins to flower at the end of 

 May. " These trees may then be discovered," says he, 

 " by the scent of the blossoms, at the distance of three 

 quarters of a mile, if the wind be favourable. It is be- 

 yond description pleasant to travel in the woods at that 

 season, especially in the evening. They retain their flowers 

 three weeks, and even longer : the berries also look very 

 handsome when they are ripe, being of a rich red colour, 

 and hanging in bunches on slender threads. They cure 

 coughs and other pectoral diseases by putting these ber- 

 ries into brandy, and giving a draught of the liquor every 

 morning. It is even said to have salutary effects in con- 

 sumptions. For a cold, they commonly boil the branches 

 in water ; the wood is made use of for joiners' planes *." 



Dillenius says, the flowers of this tree never open in a 

 morning ; and that their scent resembles that of the lily 

 of the valley with a mixture of aromatic. 



The Blue Magnolia, Magnolia acummata, will grow 

 thirty feet high, with a trunk eighteen inches or more in 

 diameter : the leaves are nearly eight inches long, and five 

 broad ; the flowers are composed of twelve blue petals ; 

 they blow early in the spring, and are succeeded by a 

 fruit about three inches long, somewhat resembling a 



* See Martyn's edition of Miller's Gardener's Dictionary. 



