LARGE-LEAVED CUCUMBER TREE (Magnolia macrophylla, 

 Michx.). 30 to 50 feet. Broad, round-headed tree with slender 

 trunk, branches stout, ending in snowy-tomentose buds 1 to 

 2 inches long. Bark thin, gray, with minute scales. Wood 

 pale brown, close- textured, weak, of no use as lumber. Leaves 

 simple, 16 to 30 inches long, 8 to 10 inches wide, obovate, 

 rounded or acute at apex, deeply heart-shaped at base, or 

 prolonged into ear-like lobes; margin entire; bright green, 

 smooth above, silvery white, pubescent below; veins promi- 

 nent; petioles stout. Flowers white, with purple spot at base 

 of inner petals; cup-shaped, 10 to 12 inches across, fragrant, 

 petals broad, at length flaring, and sepals reflexed. Fruit 

 an almost globular cone, 2 to 3 inches long, pubescent, turning 

 red as it ripens; seeds f of an inch long, scarlet, hung on threads. 

 Dist.: Foothills of Alleghenies in North Carolina south to 

 Florida; west to Mississippi and Arkansas, in scattered groups. 

 Planted for ornament, and as a curiosity for its huge leaves 

 and flowers. Hardy in Boston. 



