in. MAONOL/^CSJ? : MAGNO'L/^. 29 



The general appearance of this tree greatly resembles that of Magnolia 

 tripetala. The terminal arrangement of the leaves is the same, and it is 

 remarkable that in America the two trees are almost always found together. 

 In point of size, it exceeds the M. tripetala, both in its leaves and general 

 height ; but it is seldom found higher than 35 ft., which exceeds the height 

 of the other by a sixth part only. The body of the tree is covered with 

 a smooth and very white bark, by which, in the winter, when stripped ot 

 its leaves, it is readily distinguished from M. tripetala. At this season, also, it 

 may be distinguished by its buds, which are compressed, and covered with a 

 soft and silvery down ; whereas in M. tripetala they are prominent and rounded 

 at the end. The leaves, in its native country, are 35 in. long, and 9 or 10 

 inches broad ; and in vigorous plants, in England, they sometimes even exceed 

 these dimensions. They are borne on petioles short in comparison with the 

 size of the leaves, and are of an oblong oval shape, pointed at the extremity, 

 and cordiform at the base ; their colour is light green above, and glaucous 

 beneath. The fruit is about 4 in. long, nearly cylindrical, and of a vivid rose- 

 colour when arrived at maturity. Young plants of this species grow very 

 slowly till they are thoroughly established, which will require, in general, 

 two years. The year's shoots may then be from 1 ft. to 2 ft. ; so that in ten 

 years a plant may attain the height of 12 or 15 feet. It may be considered 

 a short-lived tree, and, like all such, it comes into flower when young. It has 

 rarely, if ever, been propagated in this country by inarching or layers, and 

 very seldom from seeds ; and, hence, the plant is very sparingly distributed. 

 Soil, propagation, &c., as in M. tripetala. Seeds are ripened in France, and 

 young plants imported from that country, or from North America. 



5. M. ACUMINA'TA L. The pointed-leaved Magnolia. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., 756.; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 80. ; Don's Mill., 1. p. 83.; Tor. and Gray, 1. 



p. 43. 

 Synonymes. M. rustica, and M. pennsylvSnica, of some ; the blue Magnolia, Eng. ; the Cucumber 



Tree. U. S. ; Magnolier acumine, Magnolier in Feuilles pointees, Fr. ; zugespitzer Bieberbaum, 



Ger. 

 Derivation. This species is called the Cucumber Tree, in America, from its fruit resembling a 



small cucumber. The other names are translations of the botanic one. 

 Engravings. Mich. Arb., 3. p. 82. t. 3. ; Bot. Mag., 2427- ; and the plate in Arb. Brit., 1st edit. 



vol. v. ; and our fig. 39. 



Spec. Char., Sfc. Deciduous. Leaves oval, acuminate, under surface pubescent. 

 Flowers 6 9-petaled. (Don's Mill.) A deciduous tree of large size. New 

 York to Georgia. Height in America 60 ft. to 80 ft., with the trunk 

 4 ft. to 5 ft. in diameter at the base ; in England 30 ft. to 50 ft. Intro- 

 duced in 1736. Flowers yellowish within, glaucous without, slightly fra- 

 grant; May to July. Strobile cylindrical, brownish red, 3 in. long; ripe 

 in October. Decaying leaves dark brown or black. Wood of a mahogany 

 brown. 



Varieties. 



*H M. a. 2 Candolli Savi. Leaves ovate oblong, acute. Flowers greenish. 



Figured in Savi's Bibl. Ital., p. 224. 



t M. a. 3 maxima Lodd. Leaves much larger than those of the original 

 species, Introduced by Messrs. Loddiges, and cultivated in different 

 nurseries. 



Other Varieties. The Magnolia acuminata being frequently raised from 



seed, and the seedlings varying much in the size of their leaves, and in the 



presence or absence of pubescence, both on the leaves and wood, it would 



be easy to select several varieties apparently as distinct as those above 



mentioned, such as M. striata, latifolia, &c. In the Gold worth Nursery, 



Woking, Surrey, are some which appear remarkably distinct. 



Trunk straight, branches numerous, shoots regularly distributed. The 



leaves are from 6 in. to 7 in. long, and ftom 3 in. to 4.< in. broad, upoi. old 



trees, but double that size upon young vigorous-growing plants. Michaux 



describes them as oval, entire, and very acuminate ; but, in the seedlings 



raised in British nurseries, they are found sometimes ovate, nearly orbiculate, 



