MAGNOLIA 71 



M. KOBUS, De Candolle. 



(Bot. Mag., t. 8428 ; M. Thurberi, Parsons^ 



A deciduous tree, ultimately 70 or 80 ft. high, with a trunk 6 ft. in -girth, of 

 quick growth and pyramidal form when young, but eventually round-headed. 

 Young branches aromatically fragrant when crushed ; winter leaf-buds downy. 

 Leaves obovate, 4 to 7 ins. long, often contracted at the apex to a short point, 

 tapering at the base to a short stalk. Flowers amongst the smallest- in the 

 genus, often under 4 ins. in diameter when fully expanded ; petals six, creamy 

 white, obovate ; sepals small, soon falling ; flower- stalk downy. Fruit pinkish, 

 seeds bright red. 



Native of Japan. Although one of the least attractive of Magnolias, at 

 anyrate when young, when it does not flower freely, this species is an 

 interesting addition to cultivated Japanese trees on account of its vigorous 

 constitution. It is much used by Japanese gardeners as a stock on which 

 they graft M. stellata. There are two forms of it, one more robust and with 

 larger leaves than the other var. BOREALIS, Sargent. The tree referred to 

 by Loudon in vol. i. of the Arboretum and Fruticetum, p. 283, as M. Kobus 

 cannot, from the description, be this species. It was probably first introduced 

 to England by Maries ; there is a fine tree in the Coombe Wood nursery sent 

 home by him in 1879. 



M. LENNEI, Van Houtte. 



(Flore des Serres, t 1693.) 



One of the most beautiful of all hybrid Magnolias, this tree is said to have 

 had the same origin as M. Soulangiana, viz. conspicua x obovata, or probably 

 its var. purpurea. It is, at anyrate, very different from the average forms of 

 that hybrid, the leaves being larger and broader (as much as 8 ins. by 5 ins.), 

 and more strongly ribbed ; the flowers, too, are finer and more richly coloured. 

 Petals very fleshy, broadly obovate, often 4 ins. deep and 4 ins. wide ; concave 

 like a broad spoon, and of a beautiful shade of rose-purple outside, white 

 inside. The main crop of flowers commences to open in late April, and lasts 

 through May, so that they are not often injured by frost. It occasionally 

 flowers a second time in autumn. 



This remarkable Magnolia is said to have originated accidentally in 

 Lombardy, where it was noticed by an Erfurt nurseryman named Topf in 1850, 

 and by him introduced to Germany. It was figured by Va^ Houtte in the 

 place quoted above, and named in honour of Mr Lenne, a royal gardener in 

 Berlin. There is a fine tree at Enys, in Cornwall. 



M. RUSTICA RUBRA is of a similar type to M. Lennei, and was raised in a 

 nursery at Boskoop, near Gouda, in Holland, in a batch of seedlings from 

 M. Lennei. In this variety the petals are more rose-coloured than in 

 M. Lennei, and proportionately shorter and broader. It is much grown in 

 the Boskoop nurseries from layers which are used as a stock for grafting 

 M. conspicua, etc., on. 



M. MACROPHYLLA, Michaux. 

 (Bot. Mag., t. 2189.) 



A deciduous tree, 20 to 50 ft. high, with an open, spreading head of branches, 

 and a trunk i to i| ft. in diameter. Leaves the largest of all Magnolias, 

 measuring 15 to 25 ins., sometimes 3 ft. in length, and from 7 to 12 ins. wide ; 



