251. MAGNOLIA FRASERI CUCUMBER-TREE. 19 



251. MAGNOLIA FRASERI, WALT. 

 FRASER MAGNOLIA. EAR-LEAF OR LONG-LEAF CUCUMBER-TREE. 



Ger., Fraser-Magnolie. Fr., Magnolier de Fraser. Sp., Magnolia de 



Fraser. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS : Leaves deciduous, clustered at the ends of the branchlets, 

 obovate-spatulate, auriculate at base, acute or obtuse at apex, glabrous dark green above, 

 paler beneath; buds glabrous, purplish green. Flowers white, fragrant, 8-10 in. across; 

 sepals early deciduous ; petals C-9, spreading, obovate-spatulate, longer than the sepal* 

 and those of the outer rank larger and broader than those of the inner. Fruit oblong, 

 glabrous, 3-4 in. long, the carpels with long curved beaks; seed compressed. 



A tree of medium size, rarely more than 40 ft. (12 m.) in height, or 

 with trunk more than 18 in. (0.46 m.) in diameter, and vested in a rather 

 thin and quite smooth grayish brown, beech-like bark. It not infrequently 

 sends up two or more trunks from a single base and is commonly crooked 

 or leaning. 



HABITAT. The Alleghany Mountain region from southwestern Virginia 

 southward to southern Alabama and the Chattahoochee River region of 

 western Florida, most abundant on the southern slopes of the mountains 

 between the altitudes of 2000 and 3000 ft. above tide, where it prefers the 

 moist soil in the vicinity of streams. As we descend from these altitudes 

 It becomes less and less common and more scattered among other trees. 



PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. Wood light, soft, not strong, satiny, not 

 durable in contact with the soil, of close grain and easily worked. The 

 sap-wood is usually abundant and of a pale-cream color, and the scanty 

 heart-wood, which does not commonly show in trunks of less than 30 or 40 

 years of age, is of a purple-brown color. Specific Gravity, 0.5003 ; Per- 

 centage of Ash, 0.28 ; Relative Approximate Fuel Value, 0.4989 ; Coefficient 

 of Elasticity, 94462 ; Modulus of Rupture, 707 ; Resistance to Longitudinal 

 Pressure, 418; Resistance to Indentation, 123; Weight of a Cubic Foot in 

 Pounds, 31.18. 



USES. -- Though not a wood of recognized commercial importance its 

 properties would suggest its applicability to the uses for which the white- 

 wood and the Cucumber-tree wood are used. An important point in the 

 utility of the tree lies in its value for ornamental planting, its large rich 

 2,TOPn leaves, white fragrant flowers and curious fruit making it one of the 

 most desirable of our deciduous trees, in localities where it will thrive, and 

 these extend considerably beyond the limits of its natural range. 



