70 MAGNOLIA 



M. GRANDIFLORA, Linnceus. LAUREL MAGNOLIA. 

 (M. fcetida, Sargent. .) 



An evergreen tree, 60 to 80 ft. high, of dense pyramidal form, but as 

 usually seen with us less than half as high and more rounded. Leaves oval 

 to oblong and obovate, from 6 to 10 ins. long, less than half as wide ; 

 tapered to both ends ; leathery in texture, glossy dark green above, covered 

 beneath, especially when young, with a thick red-brown felt ; stalk I 

 to 2 ins. long. Flowers among the finest in the genus, globular, 8 to 10 

 ins. across, very fragrant with a spicy or fruity odour, produced continuously 

 during the late summer and autumn. Petals thick and concave, creamy 

 white, broadly obovate, and 4 or 5 ins. long. 



Introduced from the southern United States to England early in the 

 eighteenth century, this still remains the finest flowered of evergreen trees ; 

 and until the advent of the Chinese M. Delavayi it was the only really 

 evergreen hardy Magnolia. It never suffers from cold at Kew, but grows 

 slowly, especially in height, and is very different to the magnificent pyramids 

 one sees along the Riviera and in Italy. It is apt to have its branches 

 broken during heavy falls of snow, for which reason it is wise to brace 

 the main branches together by stout wires. In cold localities it makes 

 an admirable wall tree. Many varieties, mostly of S. European origin, have 

 been, and continue to be, put on the market. 



Var. ANGUSTIFOLIA (syn. M. Hartwegii). Leaves narrow, 6 to 8 insi 

 long, i^- to 2 ins. wide, with little or no brown-red felt beneath. 



Var. GLORIOSA. A broad-leaved form which bears flowers of great size 

 and substance one of the finest. 



Var. LANCEOLATA, Aiton (var. exoniensis, Loddiges). Exmouth Magnolia. 

 Leaves rather narrower than in the type, lanceolate or oval, rusty coloured 

 beneath ; of a rather erect or fastigiate habit. Said to have originated 

 in the garden of Sir John Colliton at Exmouth in the eighteenth century ; 

 hardier, and flowering younger. 



Var. UNDULATA. Broad-leaved, with conspicuously wavy margins. 



It is neither necessary nor possible to distinguish the various other forms 

 that have been named. The tree ripens seeds freely in the south of Europe, 

 and it is among the plants raised from them that these forms appear. 



M. HYPOLEUCA, Siebold. 

 (Bot. Mag., t. 8077.) . 



A deciduous, erect-growing tree, 50 to 80, sometimes 100 ft. high, with a 

 trunk 6 to 9 ft. in girth ; young bark dark brown. Leaves in a cluster at the 

 end of the shoot, leathery, obovate, 8 to 18 ins. long, half as much wide ; 

 tapering at the base to a stalk i to i\ ins. long ; glaucous green above, 

 blue-white and slightly downy .beneath. Flowers produced in June, 8 

 ins. across, strongly scented, sepals and petals creamy white ; stamens 

 bright purplish red, forming, with the yellow anthers, a conspicuous circular 

 mass 3 ins. across in the centre of the flower. The fruit is brilliant red 

 until mature, cone-shaped, rather pointed, 5 to 8 ins. high. 



' Native of Japan ; introduced in 1884. It attains apparently its largest size 

 in the forests of Yezo, where it is highly valued for its light, soft, easily worked 

 timber. One of the most beautiful of all northern trees both in leaf and flower, 

 this Magnolia is also quite hardy. When young its habit is open and some- 

 times rather gaunt. A close ally, M. OFFICINALIS, Rehder, was introduced 

 from China, in 1900, by Wilson. Its fruit is truncate at the apex and its bark 

 is yellowish the first year, afterwards pale grey. 



