and find its fruit, you will see the significance of its 

 name. This fruit looks quite like a young cucumber, 

 especially when green, but in early September, it cer- 

 tainly loses its claim to the name, for then, it turns 

 a cool magenta. The husk of the fruit breaks open 

 in early fall and through the openings, seeds of the 

 richest coral, push out and hang on fairy threads of 

 silk in a most curious way. This is the fruiting habit 

 of the magnolia, and it certainly is an odd one. About 

 opposite the cucumber tree, on the other side of the 

 Walk and a little back, you will find the umbrella 

 tree (Magnolia umbrella]. If you are curious to know 

 why this tree is called ''umbrella," stand under it, 

 look up, and see the way its leaves hang from the 

 ends of its branches. This will convince you that 

 it has been well named. The leaves of the umbrella 

 tree are much larger than those of the cucumber tree 

 and, when fully grown, are from one to two feet long, 

 while those of the cucumber are from five to ten inches 

 only. The leaf of the cucumber tree is pointed at 

 both ends (acuminata) and is thin and pale beneath. 

 The two trees grow very differently, the cucumber 

 tall and straight with rather regular outline, the um- 

 brella sprawls like a catalpa or an apple tree. It is 

 very easy to identify them and as they are here to- 

 gether, it is well to study their differences. The cu- 

 cumber tree bears small greenish yellow flowers about 

 three inches wide in late spring or early summer, the 

 umbrella tree, broad white flowers, from six to eight 

 inches wide, in May, usually. In the autumn, the 



