The Magnolias and the Tulip Tree 



water lily, with waxen petals, enclosing the purple heart. William 

 Bartram likened them to great white roses, and declared that 

 he could see them distinctly a mile away. The blossoms, when 

 fully open, are from 7 to 8 inches across, as a rule. There is a 

 horticultural variety called gloriosa, the flowers of which Mr. 

 Berckmanns says are 14 inches in diameter. In southern Cali- 

 fornia there are double and ever-blooming varieties exploited by 

 nurserymen, and there are no more popular ornamental trees 

 than these. Unfortunately, this magnolia has one drawback its 

 flowers have a heavy odour which is disagreeable to many people. 

 Another is this: They cannot be shipped as cut flovv^ers, for the 

 slightest bruise of the waxy petals produces a brownish discoloura- 

 tion. This is the species that furnishes the splendid evergreen 

 foliage that is shipped North for Christmas decoration, and is 

 used for similar purposes in the South. The upper surface of 

 each leaf is a dark, lustrous green; the lining of rusty-red fuzz is 

 shed when the leaf is old. Negroes go into the woods and 

 cut down large trees and small to strip them of their leafy 

 branches. 



The comparative uselessness of its wood has until now been 

 the saving of the species. This new industry already threatens its 

 extermination in many sections of the South. 



In cultivation this magnolia is oftenest seen as a small tree, 

 from 20 to 50 feet high, planted on lawns and in parks or lining 

 avenues. In the forests of Louisiana, where it reaches its greatest 

 perfection, it stands 80 feet high, vv'ith a trunk 4 feet thick. 

 Professor Sargent calls it "the most splendid ornamental tree in 

 the American forests." 



The Swamp Bay (Magnolia glauca, Linn.) A splendid tree 

 50 to 75 feet high, or a shrub of many stems. Bark grey or 

 brown, smooth. IVood soft, pale reddish brown, weak. Buds 

 silky, i to f inch long. Leaves persistent in the South, deciduous 

 in the North; smooth, lustrous, bright green, with silvery lining 

 minutely hairy; blades oblong-lanceolate or ovate, 4 to 6 inches 

 long, blunt at apex and base, margin entire, petiole short, stout. 

 Flowers globular, 2 to 3 inches across when spread, creamy white, 

 fragrant, of 9 to 12 broad concave petals. Fruit oval, dark red, 

 smooth, i^ to 2 inches long; seeds \ inch long, flattened. Pre- 

 ferred habitat, swamps and pine-barren ponds. Distribution, 

 Florida to Texas and Arkansas; north along Atlantic coast to 



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