Umbrella Tree 



389 



becoming bright green, smooth and shining on the upper; their stalks are 2.5 

 cm. long or less. The nearly globular white flowers are deliciously fragrant, 

 opening from March to May in Florida, and in May and June farther north; 

 the sepals are obovate or oblong, thin, 1.5 to 3.5 cm. long; the eUiptic to obo- 

 vate concave clawed petals are rather longer than the sepals, and are rounded 

 at the apex; the styles are short and stout. The oval smooth red fruit is 3 to 5 

 cm. long. 



The wood has a specific gravity of about 0.50, the white sap wood being much 

 thicker than the darker heart wood ; its use is Umited to tool-handles and wooden- 

 ware. The tree is well adapted for decorative planting, though of rather slow 

 growth; several forms of it have received names in cultivation. 



5. UMBRELLA TREE Magnolia tripetala Linnaus 



Magnolia Umbrella Lamarck 



The clusters of large leaves at the ends of the branchlets, remotely resembling 

 an umbrella, have given this tree its ordinary common name ; it is sometimes called 

 Elk-wood. The tree grows naturally in ravines and along streams or swamps 

 in woods from southern Pennsylvania to Georgia, 

 westward to Kentucky, Arkansas, and northern 

 Mississippi. 



It is usually a small tree, sometimes becom- 

 ing 14 m. tall and with a slender trunk up to 

 about 4 dm. in diameter. The thick bark is 

 light gray and nearly smooth, the young twigs 

 smooth, green, turning gray. The buds are nar- 

 row, long- pointed, glaucous, 4 cm. long or less. 

 The leaves are narrowly obovate or broadly ob- 

 lanceolate, thin, 7 dm. long or less, short-pointed, 

 gradually narrowed to the base, the under side 

 ver}' velvety hairy when young but both sides 

 smooth when old; their stout stalks are 2 to 4 

 cm. in length. The large white flowers appear 

 in May and are unpleasantly odorous; the ob- 

 long-oblanceolate sepals are 10 to 15 cm. long, 

 reflexed, and fall away early; the 6 or 9 oblong 

 to oblanceolate blunt petals are clawed and somewhat longer than the sepals; the 

 styles are stout and short. The fruit is oblong, rose-colored, 12 cm. long or less, 

 and picturesquely beautiful in the autumn. 



The Umbrella tree grows rapidly, is hardy as far north as central New York 

 and is very desirable for lawn and park planting. Its wood is weak, soft brown at 

 the heart, nearly white toward the bark, has a specific gravity of about 0.45, and 

 is of little value. 



Fig. 343. Umbrella Tree. 



