MAGNOLIACE^. (MAGNOLIA FAMILY.) 49 



Order ± MAGNOLIACEiE. (Magnolia Family.) 



Trees or s/iruh.'^, with the leaf-huds covered hij memJtriuiDus slijmle.'t, poly- 

 pefalous, h>/])0(/i/noHS, polf/androus, pobjuynons ; t/ic cd/i/j: and. aorolla 

 colored alike, in three or more rows of three, and inihricatcil (rardi/ con- 

 volute) in the hud. — Sepals and petals deciduous. Anthers adnate. 

 Pistils many, mostly packed together and covering the prolonged re- 

 ceptacle, cohering with each other, and in fruit forming a sort of (leshy 

 or dry cone. Seeds 1 or 2 in each carpel, anatropous; albumen fleshy; 

 embryo minute. — Leaves alternate, not toothed, marked with minute 

 transparent dots, feather-veined. Flowers single, large. Bark aromatic 

 and bitter. 



1. MAGNOLIA, L. 



Scpuls 3. Petals 6-9. Stamens imbricated, with very short filaments, atid 

 long anthers oj)eniiig inward. Pistils coherent, forming a fleshy and rather 

 woody cone-like red fruit; each carpel at maturity opening on the back, from 

 which the 1 or 2 berry -like seeds hang by an extensile thread composed of 

 unrolled spiral vessels. Inner seed-coat bony. — Buds conical, the coverings 

 formed of the successive pairs of stipules, eacli pair enveloping the leaf next 

 above, which is fohled lengthwise and applied straight against the side of the 

 next stipular sheath, and so on. (Named after Magnol, Professor of Botany 

 at Montpellier in the 17th century.) 



* Leaves all scattered alonp the branches; leaf-buds silky. 



1. M. glauca, L. (Small or Lauhel Magnolia. Sweet Bay.) 

 Leaves oval to broadly lanceolate, 3-6' long, obtuse, glaucous beneath ; flower 

 globular, white, 2' long, vert/ fragrant ; petals broad ; cone of fruit small, ob- 

 long. — Swamps, from near Cape Ann and N. Y. southward, near the const; 

 in Penn. as far west as Cumberland Co. June-Aug. — Shrub 4-20° high, 

 with tliickish leaves, which farther south are evergreen. 



2. M. acuminata, L. (Cicumber-tree.) Leaves thin, oblong, pointed, 

 green and a little pubescent beneath, 5-10' \oi\g; floiver oblong bell-ahajud , 

 glaucous-fjreen tinged with yellow, 2' long ; cone of fruit 2-3' long, cylindri- 

 cal. — Rich woods, Avestern N. Y. to 111., and southward. Afivy, June. — Tree 

 60-90° high. Fruit when young slightly reS'Miilding a small (iKiunbcr, 

 whence the common name. 



3. M. maeroph^Ua, Michx (Great-leaved Magnolia.) Leaves 

 obovate-oblong, cordate at the narrowed base, pubescent and white Iwneafh ; 

 flower open bell-shaped, white, with a purple spot at base ; petals ovate, 6' long ; 

 cone of fruit ovoid. — S. E. Ky. and southward. May, June. — Tree 20-40° 

 high. Leaves 1-3° long, somewhat clustered on the flowering !)ranches. 



* * Leaves crowded on the summit nf the flowering branches in an umbrella-like, 

 circle : lenf-buds glabrous : fowers white, slightli/ scented. 



4. M. Umbrella, Lam. (Pmbrella-tree.) Leaves oborate-lanceolate, 

 jioinied at both ends, soon glabrous, 1-2° long; jiotnls obovate-oblong, 4-. ■>' 

 long. — S. Penn. to Ky. and southward. May. — A small trc«. Fruit roso- 

 color, 4 -.')' long, ovoi(l-ol)long. 



