MAGNOLIA; GREAT LAUREL MAGNOLIA (Magnolia fceiida 

 Sarg.). 50 to 80 feet. Regular, conical, or pyramidal, ever- 

 green tree with small, spreading branches and pubescent, 

 hoary twigs, bearing large, rusty winter buds. Bark thin, 

 scaly, brown or gray. ^Yood white, hard, heavy, close- 

 grained, turning brown, used for fuel. Leaves oblong or 

 ovate, 5 to 8 inches long, plain-margined, leathery, polished 

 dark green above, rusty, downy beneath, persistent 2 years. 

 Flowers April to August, creamy- white, cup-shaped, fragrant, 

 of 3 sepals and 6 to 9 petals, all waxen, thick, surrounding 

 many purple-stemmed stamens and a central spike of pistils 

 on purple base. Fruit a cone, oval, rusty brown, 3 to 4 inches 

 long, erect; seeds 2 in capsule, scarlet, hung out when ripe 

 on flexible thread; seeds ripe in November. Ornamental tree 

 cultivated extensively in all temperate countries. Hardy ir 

 Boston. 



110 



