Gordonia piibescens, 
THE PUBESCENT-LEAVED GORDONIA. 
Synonymes. 
Gordonia Piibescens, 
Behaarte Gordonie, 
Franklinia, 
( De Candolle, Prodromus. 
I Michaux, North American Sylva. 
IPursh. Flora America? Septentrionalis. 
Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum. 
Torre y and Gray, Flora of North America. 
Germany. 
Britain, France, and Anglo-America. 
nri 
Dtrivations. The word piibescens is derived from the Latin pubesco, to become downy; and the German name has the 
same signification. The name Franklinia is so called in honour of Dr. Franklin. 
Engravings. Michaux, North American Sylva, pi. 59 ; Audubon, Birds of America, pi. clxxxv. ; Loudon, Arboretum Bri- 
tannicum, figure 94 ; and the figures below. 
Specific Characters. Flowers almost sessile. Leaves obovate-lanceolate, pubescent beneath, somewhat 
serrated, membranaceous. Petals and sepals rather silky on the outside. Don, Miller's Did. 
Description. 
Franklinia is a decidu- 
ous tree, much smaller than 
the preceding species, and 
rarely exceeds thirty feet 
in height, and six or eight inches in diameter. The 
bark of the trunk is smooth, and presents a ridged 
surface, somewhat like that of the Carpinus ameri- 
cana. The leaves are alternate, oblong, narrowed 
at the base, finely and sharply toothed, shining above, 
canescent beneath, and rather thin. The flowers are 
white, with yellow anthers, and are nearly three inches 
in diameter. They are of an agreeable odour, and 
appear in Carolina about the beginning of July, and 
a month later near Philadelphia. They open in suc- 
cession during two or three months, and mature 
hen the tree is only three or four feet high. In the 
neighbourhood of London, it seldom comes into flower 
uefore September ; and so continues until the flower- 
buds are destroyed by frost. The fruit consists of 
round, ligneous capsules, which, when ripe, open at the summit in four seams, 
to release the small seeds. 
Geography and History. The Gordonia piibescens is found only on the banks 
of the river Altamaha, in Georgia, where it was discovered, in 1770, by John 
Bartram, who gave it the name of Franklinia. It was introduced into England, 
in 1774, by Mr. William Malcolm. There are plants ten feet high in the Mile 
End nursery, London, and of a larger size at Purser's Cross, and at Syon. It 
is also cultivated in the Jardin Imperial des Plantes, in France ; and a few years 
ago there was a tree of a considerable size in the garden at Trianon. The largest 
tree of this species which we have on record, is in the Bartram botanic garden, 
at Kingsessing, near Philadelphia. It is fifty-two feet in height, with a trunk 
three feet and nine inches in circumference. There is also another vigorous tree 
fifteen feet high, in the garden of Mr. D. Landreih, of Philadelphia. 
