POINTED-LEAVED MAGNOLIA. 15 
coloured, and, as in the fruit of the other species, the seeds, before they drop 
remain suspended for some time by long, white threads. 
Varieties. As this species is frequently raised from seeds, and as the seedlings 
vary much in the size and form of their leaves, and in the presence or absence 
of pubescence, both on the leaves and the young shoots, it would be easy to 
select several varieties apparently marked with distinctness. It may be deemed 
sufficient, however, to enumerate the following : 
1. M. a. cordata, Loudon. Magnolier a feuilles en cceur, in France ; Herz- 
bldttriger Bieberbaum, in Germany ; and Heart-leaved Cucumber-tree, in Brit- 
ain and America. This variety, in its general appearance and in the form of 
its fruit, very nearly resembles the type of this species. It is found growing in 
insulated situations on the banks of the rivers in upper Georgia, and on those of 
the streams which traverse the western part of South Carolina. It appears to 
have been discovered by the elder Michaux, and was first introduced into England 
by John Lyon, in 1801. The original tree is said still to exist in the nursery of 
Messrs. Loddiges, at Hackney, in England, and is about fifteen feet in height. In 
its natural habitat, it attains an elevation of forty or fifty feet, with a trunk twelve 
or fifteen inches in diameter. Its leaves are from four to six inches in length, and 
from three to five inches in width, are somewhat ovate or cordate, acute, with their 
under surfaces tomentose, and their upper ones smooth. Its flowers, which are 
odoriferous, appear in Georgia in April, and are yellow, with the interior of the 
petals longitudinally marked with reddish lines. They are from three to four 
inches in diameter, and are succeeded by fruit about three inches long, and 
nearly an inch in thickness. 
2. M. a. candolli savi, Loudon. De Cajidolle's Acute-leaved Magnolia. This 
variety can readily be distinguished by its ovate, oblong, and acute leaves, and 
greenish flowers. It is figured in Savi's " Bibliotheca Italica." 
3. M. a. maxima, Loudon. Large Acuminate-leaved Magnolia. The leaves of 
this variety are much larger than those of the original species. Hence its name. 
Geography and History. The most northerly point at which this species is 
found is near the falls of Niagara ; in latitude forty-three degrees. It grows 
along the whole mountainous tract of the Alleghanies to their termination in 
Georgia ; and is common on the Cumberland Mountains, which divide the state 
of Tennessee. "At the distance of forty or fifty miles from these mountains," says 
Michaux, " either eastward or westward, the Cucumber-tree is met with only 
accidentally upon the steep banks of rivers. It is also rare in the parts of Ken- 
tucky and west Tennessee, which are most remote from the mountains, where 
the face of the country is less even." 
The Magnolia acuminata was first discovered by John Bartram in 1736, and 
was sent by him to that venerable English amateur, Peter Collinson. Being 
readily propagated by layers, and very hardy, it was soon extensively cultivated 
in the gardens of Europe, and there are now numerous trees in Britain, France, 
and the north of Italy, from forty to sixty feet in height, which flower freely 
every year. 
A tree of this species more than eighty feet in height, and three feet in diam- 
eter, is at present growing in the Bartram botanic garden, at Kingsessing, on 
the west bank of the Schuylkill, three miles below Philadelphia. It was brought 
by John Bartram from Lake Erie, in about 1753 ; and Col. Robert Carr, the 
present proprietor of this garden informs us, that a great part of the seeds of the 
Magnolia acuminata sent yearly from America to Europe, are supplied from this 
tree. 
Soil and Situation. The situations peculiarly adapted to the growth of this 
tree in its native country, are the declivities of mountains, narrow valleys, and 
the banks of torrents, where the air is constantly moist, and the soil is deep and 
