MAGNOLIA GRANDIFLORA BIG LAUREL, BULL BAY, MAGNOLIA. 23 



stout petioles 1 to 2 in. in length, which as well as the new growths and bud-scales 

 are densely tomentose. Flowers (April to Aug.) large, 6-9 in. across when fully ex- 

 panded, white, very showy and deliciously fragrant ; sepals petal-like ; petals 6 to 12, 

 obovate, clawed, concave ; base of filaments and receptacle purple. Fruit oval, 

 3-4 in. long, rusty pubescent, and seeds about in. in length, somewhat triangular 

 and compressed. 



(The specific name grandiflora is from the Latin grandis large, and flos, flower.) 



A most beautiful tree of pyramidal habit of growth, attaining the 

 hight of 80 ft. (24 m.) at times, with a trunk 3 or 4 ft. (1 m.) in 

 diameter. The bark of trunk is of a light gray color with patches of 

 whitish and on small or medium-size trunks smooth ; on the largest 

 trunks checking longitudinally to moderate depth and flaking off in 

 thinnish scales, while occasionally individuals are found with numerous 

 curious bosses projecting out an inch or more from the otherwise smooth 

 bark. 



HABITAT. From North Carolina southward to Mosquito Inlet, 

 Florida, and westward into Texas, confined principally to the maritime 

 districts, growing in rich, moist soil, and attaining its greatest develop- 

 ment in Louisiana. 



PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. Wood quite heavy and hard, close-grained, 

 satiny and of a creamy white color, the heart-wood being not easily dis- 

 tinguishable from the abundant sap-wood. Specific Gravity, 0.6360; 

 Percentage of Ash, 0.53; Relative Approximate Fuel Value, 0.6326; Co- 

 efficient of Elasticity, 90330; Modulus of Rupture, 792; Resistance to 

 Longitudinal Pressure, 482; Resistance to Indention, 197; Weight of a 

 Cubic Foot in Pounds, 39.64. 



USES. Wood very suitable for interior finishing, cabinet work, boxes, 

 etc., and is largely used for fuel. As an ornamental tree it is unques- 

 tionably the foremost in value of the American forests, being extensively 

 planted in parks and private grounds in the southern cities, and found to 

 be hardy as far north as Washington, or, in sheltered places, Phila- 

 delphia. It has long been extensively grown in Europe, where several 

 varieties have originated. 



MEDICINAL PROPERTIES. The bark of this species possesses the 

 gently stimulant, tonic and diaphoretic properties common to the other 

 Magnolias. (See M. acuminata and Liriodendron Tulipifera, Part I, 

 pp. 39 and 41.) 



ORDER TERNSTROEMIACEJE : TEA or CAMELIA FAMILY. 



Leaves simple, alternate, pinnatelv veined, without stipules. Flowers regular, 

 hypogynous, calyx-lobes imbricated in aestivation; petals distinct and also imbri- 

 cated in aestivation: stamens numerous, and more or less united with each other (5 

 adelphous) and with the petals at their bases, anthers 2-celled, introrse. Fruit a 

 woody 3-5-celled capsule, dehiscent at maturity by slits in the sides, and containing 

 few seeds with little or no albumen, and large "embryo with broad cotyledons. 



Order represented by trees and shrubs with showy flowers, of which the Tea 

 plant and Camelia are important members. But few representatives found in this 

 country. 



